Fire on Lake Bosler: A Logging Crew's Narrow Escape
A brush-clearing fire near a new railroad bridge spiraled out of control in Snohomish County, forcing a team of loggers into a desperate flight for survival.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Blackman Bros.' logging works on Lake Bosler were burned out Wednesday by a fire that was started by I. Gothan for the purpose of clearing up a block range in the old works adjoining. The fire, fanned by a stiff breeze, spread so rapidly that the crew and team experienced considerable difficulty in getting out of the woods, the railroad track and bridges being on fire in many places, and had the alarm been given five minutes later one of the teams would have been sacrificed. The railroad track was about a mile in length, and all of it, with the exception of about 200 yards near the landing, was totally destroyed, together with all the bridges and branch roads. In their hurried flight the crew left some of their tools in the field. It is at present difficult to estimate the total loss, as the fire is raging furiously and destroying a large amount of timber owned by the Port Blakely Mill Co. and others. The railroad was completed about two months ago at a cost of nearly $800, and the opening of branch roads probably cost as much more. Not discouraged by this disaster, the owners of the works will be felt by many others besides themselves, as 100 men are thrown out of employment at a season when it is difficult to find work, this enterprising firm are already seeking arrangements to open another field, but at what point is not yet decided upon. The output of this camp for the week before the fire was 200,000 feet of logs, a force of 100 men, 4 mules and 18 oxen being employed.
“The fire, fanned by a stiff breeze, spread so rapidly that the crew and team experienced considerable difficulty in getting out of the woods.”
Today, Lake Bosler and the surrounding timberlands are part of a vastly different, largely suburban and preserved landscape compared to the industrial logging camps of the 1880s. However, the story of 100 workers suddenly facing unemployment due to a localized natural disaster reflects the precarious nature of Seattle's modern labor market, where industry shifts and environmental events still threaten the livelihoods of hundreds overnight.
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