New Disaster of Fire, Coming From Fallen Wood, Predicted

Forest fires of immense and devastating proportions loomed as the next and perhaps greatest chapter in New England's losing battle with the elements, as authorities, including the W. P. A.'s Harry Hopkins and Ward Shepard '10, Director of the Harvard Forest, conferred yesterday in Boston on emergency measures to stop what may be a conflagration of the entire Connecticut Valley.

With reports from all over this area bringing in news such as that of the New Hampshire State Forester that he had not seen a single pine tree standing between Concord and the southern state line, and with the fallen timber rapidly drying, National Guard units prepared to keep tourists out of the district and take all possible precautions.

Even at that, Shepard, in an interview at his home in Petersham, site of the Forest and center of the carnage, expressed doubt that terrible fires could be avoided if October is a normally dry month. The extent of the havoc in this region can be judged from the fact that in the 2,300 acre Harvard reservation an estimated half to two-thirds of the old growth and much of the younger timber was felled by the wind, measuring from five to ten million board feet.

Shepard was more concerned with the immediate danger of fire to life and property than with the destruction of his job and the thirty years of painstaking work that have gone into the making of the Forest.

"I am not yet in a position to say whether this marks the end of the Harvard Forest or whether it can go on," he said. Years of experiments in conservation and efficient timber operation were wiped out at a stroke, and even if there is enough standing to warrant starting again, the cost of clearing the Forest would be around a prohibitive $100,000.

Flames 500 Feet High Likely

The fires that are likely to result from the accumulation of these huge piles of tinder will be of a spectacular variety which has never been seen in this part of the country, usually being confined to the great timber stands of the West coast, he said. They will be of the type known as "crown fires" where the flames shoot to a height of 500 feet, creating a mighty draught which throws burning brands half a mile ahead of the main blaze and makes it absolutely uncontrollable.

Whether this area can be saved even with the strictest precautions observed seems doubtful to Shepard, and while planning for the safety of Petersham's 700 inhabitants, he more or less expects the town to be leveled to the ground along with an inestimable part of the surrounding country.