Disastrous Forest Fires.

Manawatu Herald, 6 September 1894, Page 2

Disastrous Forest Fires.

Fifty persons were burned to death in forest fires in Minnesota. Six hundred lives were lost in fires that have devastated Minnesota, two hundred at Hinckloy alone, j Five other towns were also desr troyed. Damage has been done to the extent of several millions. Passengers abandoned a train and took refuge in a swamp, where they were surrounded by fire. Two hundred of them were eventually rescued. The forest fires in Minnesota were due to a prolonged drought, which has lasted two months. The fires began on Friday, and the result was appalling. Sixteen towns exclusive of villages have been destroyed, and fifteen hundred lives lost. This shocking feature of the calamity was in a large measure due to the change of wind, by which towns supposed to be safe were suddenly engulfed. In many places tbe citizens kept the fire at bay for hours till they were exhausted. Rain is now falling in Minnesota, but the fires continue in Michigan and Wisconsin. Forty square miles have been devastated. No less than 300 passengers by trains are missing. In on district over which the body of fire had swept, 130 corpses were found within a apace of five acres. At Uickley 40 unfortunate people surrounded by flames took refuge in a waterhole, but the fire swept over its surface, and some were burned to death and others drowned. The train mentioned in Tuesday's cablegrams caught fire before it reached the swamp, and in the panic that ensued 12 people leaped out into the raging fire, and were killed. The counties of Kennebec and Carl ton were denuded of villages. Thousands of people are camping out without food, and surrounded by charred corpses. No house or village in the path oi the fires escaped. The damage is roughly put at two millions. A later estimate of the loss of life is that 900 persons perished. The progress of the fire resembled that of a whirlwind, and the scene was appalling. Whole families endeavouring to escape in waggons and trains were overtaken, and became victims to the devouring elements.