A PRAIRIE FIRE.
SIR,—Some of your readers will, I think, be interested in the accompanying extract from a letter just received by me from two young settlers in the North-West of Canada.—I am, Sir, &c., "Herbert went into Calgary the day before yesterday to get same things, and about four hours after he started a tremendous prairie-fire swept down on us. V—, myself, and two other fellows were here at the time. There was a regular hurricane blowing, and this made the flame some six or seven feet through, and it travelled faster than a horse can run. I was working in the &We, and had just finished, when I saw a lot of smoke rising in the next valley behind us. I ran to the top of the hill, and saw the fire about half-a-mile off. I ran down to the house. (about two hundred yards) and got a pail of water. By that time the fire was over the hill, and coming right on to us. We saw at once it was no use trying to stop it. So we kept round the buildings to save them. I was close to the stable, and two other fellows at the house ; V —I had sent into the field to drive the horses and cattle .out. The fire was on to us in a second, and jumped the outer fire-guard, and was into the hay before I could do anything, the smoke for about two minutes being so dense that I had to rush into the stable and gasp. The feeling of suffocation was about the most awful I ever felt. The fire was past in a second, and then our work began. The house was safe, as there was an extra fire-guard round it ; the hay, of which there was only about a ton, was gone in a few minutes. The stable was in considerable danger for a time, as the fire caught the manure round it, and nothing less than a good sousing could put it out. However, we forked a clear space round it, and that saved it. The other fellows now went
away to their own places, and V and I were left alone. The fire caught some building-logs, but we soon put them out with buckets of water. The fare then got on to a pile of five hundred posts, and then our really hard work began. I pulled the posts
away from the pile, while V watched that the other piles close round did not catch. This was pretty hard work, as the wind blew the sparks in showers all over the place. I managed to save about four hundred out of the pile, and then the fire got too hot, .and we could do no more than watch the other piles. One pile especially, which was to the leeward of thefire, gave us a great deal of trouble. One of us had to run between it and the fire, and empty the bucket, and even then the heat was something fearful. However, about 9 o'clock we got the things moved out of the way, and the pile having burnt out, we left it, and went to see our next-door neighbour. He had had his stable burnt to the ground, and two horses in it burnt to death. His waggon, harness, granary, and about a hundred bushels of oats were burnt, and also a little bay. Another neighbour had his stable burnt, and harness ; a horse also belonging to another fellow was burnt. Another had his stable, corral, hay, and probably some calves burnt. All those who lost heavily had no fire-guards ploughed round their buildings. We lost only our hay, some timber, and about half-a-mile of fencing. One hundred dollars would cover all. We ourselves had not sufficient fire-break, but we had more than most people. Still, nothing less than a very large guard could stop a fire with such a terrific wind blowing it along. It moved so fast that it actually jumped portions of prairie, not having time to burn it. Next year we mean to have a tremendous fire-guard round all the buildings and fences as well, so as to ba quite on the safe side. Of course, we must put off our dairying for a few weeks till the new grass is grown."
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