THE FOREST FIRE

The year 1960 is remembered for the below average rainfall and the for- est fires.

On April 20 of that year, many fields were dry enough for cultivation. There had been no rain in April to that date. Crops were planted early. The growing season was about two weeks earlier than usual. Hay matured much ahead of average. A good crop of grain was harvested, but straw was very poor. The dry weather kept late blight unusually low, but potato yields were decreased due to damage from insects along with the hot dry weather, which caused potatoes to ripen prematurely. Pastures dried up and fields all over the Island had a brownish appearance. In July, farmers started feeding hay and commercial feed to livestock. The month of August was the driest recorded in 50 years. Occasional showers kept plants from burning up, but had little effect in correcting the moisture sit- uation. Restrictions were put on residents in Summerside and Charlottetown about watering lawns, due to a low water level in wells. Any outdoor fire was exceedingly dangerous. By the middle of August, several fires were burning in eastern Canada and United States. On August 19, the temperature at the Charlottetown Experimental Farm reached 95° Fahrenheit, making it the hottest day since 1935.

On August 9, a forest fire was burning on Lennox Island, threatening to destroy all the woodland and endangering the entire residential area. Assistance was provided from Tyne Valley, the Summerside RCAF Station and from the Indian reserves in Cape Breton and Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia. The fire was brought under control, but continued to burn deep in the peat bogs, springing up again later on. More than one third of the woodland on Lennox Island was destroyed. By the end of August the number and extent of fires in Prince County had increased. It was report- ed that more than 80 fires were burning in the Atlantic provinces.

Fires between Mount Pleasant and Portage, including North Enmore, were burning out of control. A crew of Mi’kmaq men from Lennox Island worked in that area, keeping the woods around the settlement wetted down by using a portable pump, drawing water from nearby streams. They were able to save the houses in the area.

Bulldozers and tractors made firebreaks, but live embers were carried 011 hot winds, threatening buildings and setting new fires, often a mile dis- tant, across firebreaks and rivers. Fires continued burning underground in

98 Roors & BRANCHES