Yacolt fire

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Southwest Washington with the affected area in pink

The Yacolt-Brand (English Yacolt Burn ) is the collective name for dozen of fires in the US states Washington and Oregon , which between the 8th and 12th September 1902 on an area of ​​500,000 acres (approx. 202,300 ha) in wooded and populated areas claimed 38 deaths in the Lewis River area , at least nine deaths in the Wind River area , 18 deaths in the Columbia River Gorge and an unknown number of injuries.

Causes of the fires

A stock of dead Douglas firs , 32 years after the fire

The Yacolt fire (in US-American parlance Yacolt Burn , also Yacolt Fire , Yacolt Blaze , Yacolt-Cispus Burn or Columbia Fire of 1902 ) was the result of unfavorable weather factors as well as careless people. The summer of 1902 was drier than normal and in early September winds were blowing from west to east. A pile of branches and other debris from logging had not been burned away in the previous two summers. On September 8th, a fire broke out when some boys set fire to a hornet nest near Eagle Creek , Oregon . Other major fires occurred independently or in combination soon after, including one caused by a locomotive at Dodson . Other reports cite lightning strikes as well as careless campers and berry pickers, hunters and lumberjacks as causes. The fire spread quickly and stretched from Bridal Veil to Cascade Locks before burning debris crossed the Columbia River to Washington. It shifted 30 mi (48 km) within 36 hours and destroyed 238,920 acres (approx. 970 km²) of forest land with approx. 28 million cubic meters of wood in Counties Clark , Cowlitz and Skamania .

Extent of destruction

Although the namesake of the fire is the small town of Yacolt , the town was not destroyed by the fires. The loss of all goods was determined to be a value of $ 12,767,100 in 1902 . The amount of damage in Multnomah County was estimated at more than a million dollars.

The fire dumped a 1.5 in (38 mm) layer of ash over Portland . The smoke was so thick that the street lights in Seattle (160 mi (257 km) away) came on at noon, and ships on the Columbia River were forced to navigate by compass only. Yacolt was close enough to the inferno that the paint blistered the 15 buildings, but then the wind turned and the fire turned north toward the Lewis River , where it consumed itself. At that point, an estimated 500,000 acres (202,300 ha) of forest had gone up in flames.

Interestingly, the lumber industry shipped 32,070 m³ of timber across the Columbia River in October 1902, setting a new record for monthly production.

Legislature: Regulations after the Yacolt fire

Calls were immediately made for legal regulations in Oregon and Washington to prevent fires of this magnitude in the future. Some bills have been legislated, but they have not been an effective yardstick. The 1929 Dole Valley Fire destroyed an additional 153,000 acres (619 km²) of forest and in September 2017 the Eagle Creek Fire destroyed nearly 50,000 acres (202 km²) in the Columbia River Gorge. The tendency of the wooded highlands in this area to burn down repeatedly is due to the presence of the Columbia River Gorge, which cuts the Cascade Range at almost sea level and makes the greater Portland area's climate relatively uneven compared to that of Seattle. The area's wet winters result in abundant wood growth, but this is followed by hot, dry summers due to the rain shadows of the Cascade Range. In the end, all logging and other commercial activities in the area are governed by the very restrictive "Yacolt Burn Rules".

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b James Crutchfield: It Happened in Washington . TWODOT, Guilford, CT 2008, ISBN 9780762745708 , pp. 97-100.
  2. ↑ Unknown: Governor Warns of Forest Danger . In: The Oregonian , June 7, 1931. Retrieved August 16, 2012. 
  3. ^ A b Albert Attwell: Columbia River Gorge History Volume Two . Tahlkie Books, Stevenson, WA 1975, pp. 202-203.
  4. ^ A b c Oregon and Washington Fires . In: The Columbia River and Oregon Timberman . December 1902, p. 41.
  5. ^ Bill Carr: A History of the Bridal Veil Lumbering Company . United States Department of Agriculture, Pacific Northwest Region; Mt. Hood National Forest, 1983.
  6. ↑ Unknown: Flames Make Ashes of Oregon and Washington Homes and One Hundred Lives May Be Death's Grim Record . In: San Francisco Call , September 15, 1902. Retrieved August 16, 2012. 
  7. ↑ Unknown: Columbia Blazing on Both Sides . In: The Daily Journal , September 13, 1902. Retrieved August 16, 2012. 
  8. ^ Jim Attwell, Columbia River Gorge History , Volume 2. Tahlkie Books, Stevenson, WA 1975, p. 203.
  9. ^ The Columbia River and Oregon Timberman, November 1902

swell

  • Washington State Department of Natural Resources. Yacolt Burn State Forest Map (annotations on back), 1991

Coordinates: 45 ° 50 ′ 0 ″  N , 122 ° 10 ′ 0 ″  W.