Major Fires:
1930 — 34,700 acres in R.I.
1942 — 24,500 acres in R.I.
1951 — Acreage not specified

The 1930 and 1942 fires started in Connecticut.  1942 burned about 14,000 acres on the Connecticut side; unsure at this time how many burned in 1930.  From personal recollection of stories heard but not confirmed yet by research the ’51 fire burned generally the area between the 1930 and 1942 fires.

1935 — 63% of R.I. forested
1938 — Hurricane, eventually 80 million board feet of lumber salvaged
1953 — 64% forested; 281 million board feet standing
1998 — 59% forested; 1,316 million board feet standing

On a bit less land, the volume of trees in Rhode Island expand four fold in 45 years.  What that speaks directly to is the lack of “maturity” in the woods of 1953, which relates to forest fires.  Immature woods are brushier and more prone to hot fires and younger trees are more prone to lethal injuries to their bark.  As the forests mature, they become less likely to burn and more resistant to the impact of what does burn.

Halifax was struck by Hurricane Juan on 29 September 2003 with 100mph winds, with unofficial gusts to 145mph.

Hurricane intensity in northern waters

While hurricanes this far north tend to weaken their cyclonic wind speeds, they gain forward speed. This is a graphic of that effect from the 1938 Hurricane.(1)

We know historically the hurricanes are one of the major disturbances of forests, probably matched in the degree and geographic area only by ice storms.  Other severe disturbances like tornadoes, straight line winds, and microburts tend to affect much smaller geographic areas.

Here a few comments from 1938:

The combination of soggy ground, strong wind and the sail surface of a full complement of leaves proved too much and many shade and forest trees were broken or blown over by the hurricane. … Practically all older stands of white pine east of the Connecticut River were partially or completely destroyed.  Governor Wilbur Cross appointed committees to make recommendations dealing with Forest Fires, Timber Salvage and Forest Rehabilitation.  Austin Hawes, Hurricane Damaged Forests still a valuable state asset

The fire danger from the downed trees was regarded as a great peril.   The New England Forest Emergency Office was created by the U.S. Forest Serivce to coordinate the effort to mitigate the fire danger and salvage the lumber. United States Forest Service.  A pictorial report on the New England forest emergency project with notes on its operation.

The photo below is from the Harvard collection showing an untouched Pisgah Forest (NH) four years after the ’38 Hurricane, compared to salvaged forests in Petersham, MA and was retrieved from this site.  Keep in mind when reading their perspective (against salvage) that Pisgah and even Petersham are fairly high, cool areas that keep their snow covers later in the year then areas further south and east in New England, and at least with Pisgah are fairly isolated from homes and business.

1942 -- Aftermath of Hurricane of 1938

This is a contemporary report, from 70 miles east of Pisgah, in Lee, N.H. of the conditions of 1941 and looking forward to 1942:

FOREST FIRE WARDEN’S REPORT
The 1941 fire season was the worst on record in the State of New Hampshire.

More fires occurred, more 25 area was burned over, greater damage was done to our woodlands, higher losses were sustained in other real property burned and the cost of suppressing fires was greater.

There will, perhaps, never be more ideal conditions for fire than existed in 1941. A scarcity of rain left the forests in a highly inflammable condition. The accompanying high winds spread fires with almost light- ning rapidity through the parched forest lands. These conditions, coupled with human carelessness, made 1941 outstanding in the state’s forest fire record.

As we approach the 1942 fire season, we wonder just what may be in store for us. The woodlands are in as critical condition as they were last year, if not more so. Blown down trees still clutter sizable acreages of our woodland areas ; the increased tempo in lumbering operations due to war demands are each day adding to the fire hazard an ever increasing number of acres of slash land; and we face the coming fire season with greatly reduced personnel, due to the shifting of men from our small communities into the armed forces of the country and into defense industries.

If, however, everyone will be careful, if they will follow the rules and regulations laid out for the use of fire in and around woodlands, much of our difficulties will be eliminated — our fires kept few in number with a consequent saving of expense to town and state. There are so many possibilities for trouble this year it will require the whole-hearted and patriotic cooperation of everyone concerned if we are to avoid serious difficulties.

Persons hostile to the best interests of our country and subnormal individuals affected by the excitement of the times may easily cause tremendous confusion and disruption of local activities by deliberately starting fires in our woodlands. Suspicious circumstances connected with every fire should be made known to the proper authorities. Wardens and Deputies are being instructed this year to investigate all fires carefully. Parties at fault will be held strictly responsible. With our forces weakened, it becomes more necessary for everyone to comply with regulations which have been set up to govern the use of fire in our woodlands.

These are briefly as follows :

1. Secure a permit from your local forest fire warden to burn brush or other debris in or near woodlands, or where fire may be communicated to such lands, once the snow has left the ground. Violation of this requirement makes the responsible party liable.
a. To a fine not to exceed $500.00 or imprisonment of not more than one year or both.
b. To the town for expenses incurred by the warden in attending or extinguishing such fire.
c. For damage to abutting owners if fire runs upon abutters’ property.

2. DON’T drop or throw from any vehicle while same is upon a public highway or private way and DON’T drop, throw or otherwise deposit on or near woodlands any lighted match, cigar, cigarette, live ashes or any other substance liable to cause a fire. Violation of these prohibitions penalizes whoever is found guilty with a fine of not more than $25.00.

3. DON’T fail to promptly notify your local warden of any fires you see.

The 1941 fire record for Lee is as follows : Number of fires 12 Acreage burned 118 Cost of suppression . . . $757.40 No. of permits issued .

FRANK I. CALDWELL, Forest Fire Warden [, Lee, N.H.].
Retrieved 6 May 2009 from here.

Allowing a forest to “naturally” recover, and that’s a difficult word to define in a southern New England landscape where fire from man has played a role since the glaciers retreated, at the very least requires preparation and defense.  A single careless or deliberate spark in a pile of debris like the Pisgah picture above would ignite a long burning, intense fire that’s likely to seriously damage the organic matter in the soil below.  Good and sufficient fire breaks are needed to keep fires from the outside out, and keep intense fires on the inside from escaping.

Which brings us to this picture from Halifax, whih was taken at a fire which started, in the general the area were the big fire started the next day (archive).   These conditions certainly could be found among the worse of the December 2008 ice storm.

29 April 2009 Halifax Fire

That picture probably illustrates two of the keys in dealing with fires in the ice storm area — hoses and helicopters.  I suspect a third part would be bulldozers to quickly re-open forest roads if necessary.  In my town, in the wake of hurricanes or other severe wind events, we will use a front end loader in conjuction with chainsaws to quickly re-open roads for fire apparatus to pass.  On a major fire you may even see a need for dozers to actually build fire line to push dead brush back into the black.

There was another incident out of Halifax that’s good to keep in mind:

House being investigated for arson

…the investigation began after firefighters arrived at the house to battle the rapidly growing wildfire.

Firefighters realized there was a fire inside the house and “they saw stuff that made them believe that this was a suspicious fire,” he said.

“It didn’t take the investigator long to confirm that it was, indeed, suspicious.” Chronicle-Herald