FOREST FIRES.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 13728, 19 October 1908, Page 6

FOREST FIRES.

CAUSE OP A RAILWAY ACCIDENT. SOME HORRIBLE DEATHS. Press Assocration-By Telegrapb-CopHght NEW I'ORK, October 1/. Forest fires destroyed a culvert, derailing a train loaded with fugitive* from M«ti (Michigan). The wreckage and pika of railway sleepers caught tire, and tbe men, seized with pan : c. fled, leaving the women and children. V steel car containing 15 charred skeletons was found. The. fireman took refuge in the enj oe tank, - and. was boiled to death FUQKT OP PEOPLE. ' / Death in wells. Telegrams from Winnepeg of Atig*.t last of tbe great forest files give harrowing pictures bf the immense distress tint >t»i« over a wide-spread area, and do sot minimise to any extent the first reports that came through from that scene of destruction. . The towns of Fernie, Hosmer, Michael, end Sparwood weTe the chief sufferers, and were practically the onl— towns of . any consequence destroyed. Most of the other places mentioned as being burned were smaller mining or lumber camp*, with populations amounting only to hundreds. "The ~ loots- of /fife is placed at between 200 and 500, while tomething l : ke £2,000,COO is expected to cover the money loss. Apart from the destruction of the valuable timber forests, tbe town of Fernie is (he hardest hit, and it is stated that the losses in that town are only slightly covered by insurance. Coal Greek is now j laid to have escaped, and Morriscev :s only partially burned. The {lame* «re"_sa}d •tor be under control. They cover' an area about thirty mile? long and ten miles wide. Appalling scenes were witnessed daring the flight .of the people froin the. flames which swept down tbe mountain sides like fierce currents, devouring everything in tbeiv way. Tbe disaster came so suddenly npon the people of Fenue that in many cases there was not time to escape, and hundreds took refuge in coke ovens, which have been dng deep in the sides of tbe hills, while others found refuge in cellars and wells. Numerous search parties have been organised to find the homeless and to bring in the v'ctims of the disaster. Both at Fernie and Michel many bodies have been found in wells. In no case were these bodies burned, but the victims, seeking tocape from the flames, met their death bv suffocation. "it is estimated that quite one hundred victim* perabed by fire at Fernie, while at Hosmer twenty lives were lost. The full numbers have not yet come in from other places bat efforts are being made to get at the exact figures. HOW 60 MEN ESCAPED. t A later report states the> sixty men, who were supposed to have been burnt to death at a lumber camp on the mountain aide above Coal Creek, escaped, and have made their way to one bf tho relief camped Their escape was remarkable, as they were completely surrounded by the burning forest. Tbey had, however, in their work made a considerable clearing, and in one direction this gave them a start on the> fire and a respite from tbe pursuing flames. Wrapping their coals about their beads, they made a dabh tn wbete the forest was thinnest, and all succeeded in getting through to tbe bottom of tbe ravine, where there was a brook. Th»y dashed intto this, and by meant of wading up stream for a distance, finally made their escape. Nelson forma the chief refuge camp. One thousand arrived there yesterday, and between two thousand and three thousand have straggled into Nelson to-day, where immediate relief was given them. Hundreds of cart-loads of provision* and ner*»yties of all kinds, including clothing, lw»vf been pouring into Nelson to-day, I'biefly from tbe went and from American towns across the border, Americans vying *ith the Canadians in sending relief to their neighbour* Much more is needed, however, and more is pronr'sed, a* bun.ir.tV of families have lost all they po*>e»>ed. The Canadian Pacific Railway's relief fund already amounts to £BOOO, and i» increasing. There was immense sensation when five Italians, who are believed to be members of the " Black Hand," were arrested near Fernie on suspicion of having etarted the tire in tbe woods. Tbey werv taken to Nelson in chain* and securely locked up. (or fear of lynching. The feeling wat «o intense against llnm that it *».« with liifbi-oltr tha: th- i>heri9> managed t<> protect them from the crowd, who. if tlt Italians had fallen into the : r hands, nould have torn them to pieces. Crowds (according to Roottt'i correspondent) imbed to the railway station .<l. l'emie in the hoj»- of getting a train. an>) in this manner numbers rracb*-d Hr»mcr •n safety, though the trains had tr» I* .'<> h thioogh sheets of flame, ahkii re peiledly >el fine to tbe carriages. Fernie. wb'cb has been totally de*troy.-d by tlw tire, had a population of 4500. h wa« a thriving town, bailt j the heart of the mountain*, and surrounded by den »»'y.wno i• 1 tJa: topped hill, and riil;«*. Five miles away, at Coal Cr*ek. ar>» tncelebrated Fernie Coal Mines, which be

| long to the Crow's Xest Pass Coal Cornpanv, Limited, wlrcli also has collieries at Michel, twenty miles north of lrernie and Carbonad, eight miles south of it. These collieries may be said to-day to be the greatest factor "in the development of British Columbia. Some idea of the magnificence of the urnes —said to be. on .account of the enormous deposit of coal, one of the most remarkable coal beds in the world—may be gained from the fact that there are eighty steams of coal, with a total thick-' nees of about 3000 ft. Taking into account only seams of 3ft and over, there is enough coal on the company's property, according to an expert's opinion, to supply 10.000 tons a day for 10,000 years, c or a total of about 30,000.000,000 tons! In •|uality the steam coal is claimed to equal the best of the Welsh kind.