Although Western blazes consuming the land area equivalent to small northeastern states come to mind when the topic of forest fires comes up, the Adirondack Park has its own history of devastating forest fires. Forest fires in the Adirondacks were at their most destructive and widespread in the early-to-mid 20th century. Fires in the Adirondacks, caused in part by logging, poor forest management, and railroads, destroyed much of the Adirondack Park in the first half of the 20th century. These fires and the destruction they wrought on the Park ushered in a new era of Adirondack preservation and land use that continues to the present day.

The Great Fire of 1903

The Great Fire of 1903 is the most destructive fire in the Adirondacks in recent history. The wildfire consisted of more than 640 smaller fires and burned more than 600,000 acres of land, almost all of which was inside the boundaries of the Adirondack Park (Menice). Ash from the fires spread as far south as New York City (Nelson). The fires began after a drought of 72 days without rain, beginning in mid-April of that year (Menice, Nelson). Although springtime is generally muddy and wet in the Adirondacks, it is the season with the highest risk for wildfires. The decaying organic matter on the forest floor dries out and becomes flammable, increasing the ability of fires to spread. The fires that began during that drought period advanced unchecked until rains in the summer helped quench the fires (Nelson). Although the Great Fire of 1903 did not kill anybody, it cost $3.5 million dollars and led to the unemployment of hundreds of people (Nelson, DuQuette, Suter). The Great Fire of 1903 first brought real attention to the issue of fires within the Adirondack Park.

Subsequent Fires

No subsequent fires were able to match neither the size nor destruction of the Great Fire of 1903. However, fires in 1908 and 1934 continued to prove that wildfires were a threat to the Adirondack Park region. In the spring and summer of 1908, over 300,000 acres burned (Halasz). The wildfire of 1934 is known as the “Last Great Adirondack Fire.” Infrastructure to fight these fires was so poorly organized that “State and [Tupper Lake] Village Police searched the streets of Tupper Lake for any able bodied men they could recruit for emergency fire duty.” After obtaining said men, the fire was stopped after burning 8,000 acres in the Lake Tupper area (Menice). These fires further cemented the idea that humans can cause and exacerbate forest fires, leading people within the Adirondack Park to work to minimize the likelihood of future fires.

The Effect of Industry

It is no coincidence that the major fires of 1903, 1908, and 1934 coincided with the peak (and decline from the peak) of logging and industry within the Adirondack Park. Unregulated logging contributed significantly to the spread and size of each of these fires. Although the Adirondack Park had been legally established a little over a decade ago, enforcement of environmental protections was nonexistent and many industries abused the region (Nelson). Selective logging then gave way to clear-cutting, which left vast swaths of the region extremely vulnerable to forest fires (Nelson, Menice). The debris left by clear-cutting dried out and became extremely flammable (Nelson). Logging provided the fuel for the fires, and railroads provided the spark. Trains in the Adirondacks ran on coal or wood, which sent off sparks as the trains moved along the tracks (The Adirondack Experience). Laws required wire grates over the smokestacks of trains to prevent errant sparks from flying into the brush, but they were ineffective in practice and not commonly used. Sparks from a train going by Tupper Lake started the main fire of 1908 (Halasz). It is also thought that trains started the Great Fire of 1903 (The Adirondack Experience). It is clear that the forest fires were, in some instances, started by humans, and, in others, made worse by human activities in the Adirondack Park.

Legacy of Adirondack Fires

The legacy of these significant Adirondack fires is immense. Immediately after the fires of 1908, fire towers were constructed in 1909 (The Adirondack Experience). Fire towers and observation towers were constructed throughout the 1910s to help detect and put out fires before they could spread (Adirondack.net). Observers would use the fire towers for the duration of the fire season (spring through fall) and use alidade tables to pinpoint the locations of fires (Menice). 57 fire towers were constructed within the Adirondack Park by the 1970s. In the 1970s, aircraft became more efficient at spotting fires and active use fire towers were phased out by the 1990s (Adirondack.net). Many legal changes were made to further prevent future fires and preserve the forests of the Adirondacks. Stricter laws banned the use of coal and wood in trains in favor of petroleum, which does not create sparks. Patrols of railroad properties were established to further prevent locomotives from starting fires. The Governor of New York was also given the executive power to close parts of the Adirondack Park to visitors when the risk of fires became too high (Halasz). The fires of the Adirondacks forced people to consider the effect that human activities have on the land, and the destructive consequences of the previous century of exploitation of the Park’s natural resources.

Works Cited

DuQuette, Jon J. “Holocausts Razed Huge Areas of Adirondacks.” Adirondack Daily Enterprise, 30 Sept. 1989, localwiki.org/hsl/Forest_Fires. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.

Halasz, Sunita. “Historic Forest Fires of the Adirondacks and Saranac Lake.” Adirondack Daily Enterprise, Ogden Newspapers, 13 Nov. 2021, www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/opinion/columns/2020/11/historic-forest-fires-of-the-adirondacks-and-saranac-lake/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.

Menice, Alice. “A View of St. Regis Mountain Fire Tower -.” The Adirondack Almanack, Adirondack Explorer, 30 Aug. 2021, www.adirondackalmanack.com/2021/08/a-view-of-st-regis-mountain-fire-tower.html#more-189043. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.

Nelson, Pete. “Lost Brook Dispatches: The Fires of 1903 -.” The Adirondack Almanack, Adirondack Experience, 14 Apr. 2012, www.adirondackalmanack.com/2012/04/lost-brook-dispatches-the-fires-of-1903.html. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.

Suter, Herman Milton, and United States Bureau of Forestry. Forest Fires in the Adirondacks in 1903. Internet Archive, vol. 26, Washington, D.C., Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1904, archive.org/details/forestfiresinadi26sute. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.

The Adirondack Experience. “The Adirondacks Are Burning: A Brief History of Forest Fires.” Adirondack Experience, Mannix, 4 Apr. 2017, www.theadkx.org/the-adirondacks-are-burning-a-brief-history-of-forest-fires/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.“The History of Fire Towers: Protecting the Adirondacks in the 20th Century.” Adirondack.net, Adirondack.net, 19 Apr. 2018, www.adirondack.net/history/fire-towers/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2021.