1, esp. Mount Desert Isl. ME– 21

lornajarrettblanchard October 17, 1947

–21 Blanchard tally from State breakouts below.
— 1 Connecticut
–16 Maine
— 3 Massachusetts
— 1 New Hampshire

–17 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 363.
–16 Dwyer. “‘The year that Maine burned’: 70 years ago…” Boston.com, 10-29-2017.
–16 NFPA. “Large Loss Fires of 1947.” Quarterly of the NFPA, Vol. 41, No. 3, Jan 1948, p166.
–16 NFPA. “Maine Forest Fires.” Quarterly of the Nat. Fire Prot. Assoc., 41/3, Jan 1948, p197.
–16 Smalley, James C. (Ed.). Protecting Life and Property from Wildfire. NFPA, 2005, p. 26.
–15 National Fire Protection Association. 1984 Fire Almanac. 1983. p. 139.

Connecticut ( 1)
–1 AP. “Forest Fires At-A-Glance.” Biddeford Daily Journal, ME. 10-25-1947, p. 1

Maine (16)
–16 Portland Press Herald, ME. “Maine Fire Disaster of [Oct-Nov] 1947.” 11-1-1947, p. 24.
–13 Portland Press Herald, ME. “Arsonist Flees Posse Near Highland Lake.” 10-28-1947, p.1.
–12 by Oct 26. Portland Press Herald, ME. “New Fire Death Puts Toll at 12, 17 Are Missing.” 10-27-1947.
–11 by Oct 25. AP. “Forest Fires At-A-Glance.” Biddeford Daily Journal, ME. 10-25-1947, p. 1
–10 by Oct 23. AP. “…10 Perish in Maine Fires.” Biddeford Daily Journal, ME. 10-24-1947, 1.
Alfred (1)
–1 Edwin Morse, 80, trapped in burning home on Biddeford Road.
Bar Harbor (6)
–6 by Oct 26. Blanchard
–5 by Oct 23. AP. “…10 Perish in Maine Fires.” Biddeford Daily Journal, ME. 10-24-1947, 1.
–1 Martha Burton, 52, Oct 23 evacuation convoy crash.
–1 Warrant Officer (jg) Walter C. Coates, Dow Field, Oct 23, evacuation convoy crash.
–1 Richard Karst, 51, heart attack.
–1 Mrs. Arthur Pray, 79, heart attack.
–1 Helen L. Cormier, 16. Evacuation car accident, fractured skull Oct 23; died Oct 26.
Berwick (1)
–1 Mrs. Percy Morrill. Portland Press Herald, ME. “Bar Harbor Girl Dies, Toll Now 12.” 10-27-1947, p. 3.
Falmouth (2)
–1 Edward Herlihy Jr., 20 of Bangor. Auto crash returning from fire-fighting.
–1 James Wyman, 20, of Milbridge, same accident as Herlihy.
Kennebunk (1)
–1 Aurele Tremblay, 46, fatally injured by auto while on volunteer fire-fighting duty.
Limington (1)
–1 Edmund A. Soper, 47, of South Portland. Heart attack checking on property fire damage.
Newfield area (2)
–1 Albert Smith, 55, suffocation, found on road in woods near his dead horse and wagon.
–1 Fred Sprague, 75. Portland Press Herald, ME. “Bar Harbor Girl Dies, Toll Now 12.” 10-27-1947, p. 3.

Massachusetts ( 3)
–3 AP. “Forest Fires At-A-Glance.” Biddeford Daily Journal, ME. 10-25-1947, p. 1.

New Hampshire ( 1)
–1 Rochester, Whitehall Road. Roger Durfee, 18, fell from truck trying to avoid collision, night of the fire.

Narrative Information

AcadiaNet, 1995: “On Friday, October 17, 1947, at 4 PM, the fire department received a call from Mrs. Gilbert, who lived near Dolliver’s dump on Crooked Road west of Hulls Cove. She reported smoke rising from a cranberry bog between her home and the dump. No one knows what started the fire. It could have been cranberry pickers smoking cigarettes in the bog. Or perhaps it was sunlight shining through a piece of broken glass in the dump that acted like an incendiary magnifying glass. Whatever the cause, once ignited, the fire smoldered underground. From this quiet beginning arose an inferno that burned nearly half the eastern side of Mount Desert Island and made international news.

“In its first three days, the fire burned a relatively small area, blackening only 169 acres. But on October 21, strong winds fanned the flames and the blaze spread rapidly and raged out of control, engulfing over 2,000 acres. Personnel from the Army Air Corps, Navy, Coast Guard, University of Maine forestry program, and Bangor Theological Seminary joined local fire-fighting crews. National Park Service employees flew in from parks throughout the East and additional experts in the West were put on standby.

“The pace of the blaze intensified and nearly 300 acres burned on October 22. The fire crossed Route 233 and continued along the western shore of Eagle Lake. On the morning of October 23, the wind shifted, pushing one finger of the fire toward Hulls Cove. Firefighters shifted their efforts in an attempt to squelch the threat to that community. But in the afternoon, the wind suddenly turned again and increased to gale proportions, as a dry cold front moved through, sending the inferno directly toward Bar Harbor. In less than three hours the wildfire traveled six miles, leaving behind a three mile wide path of destruction. The fire swept down Millionaires’ Row, an impressive collection of majestic summer cottages on the shore of Frenchman Bay. Sixty-seven of these seasonal estates were destroyed. The fire skirted the business district, but razed 170 permanent homes and five large historic hotels in the area surrounding downtown Bar Harbor.

“Bar Harbor residents not actively engaged in fire-fighting tried to find safety, fleeing first to the athletic field and later to the town pier. At one point all roads from the town were blocked by flames, so fishermen from nearby Winter Harbor, Gouldsboro, and Lamoine prepared to help with a mass exodus by boat. At least 400 people left by sea. Finally, by 9 PM, bulldozers opened a pathway through the rubble on Route 3 and a caravan of 700 cars carrying 2000 people began the slow trip to safety in Ellsworth. According to eyewitness reports, it was a terrifying drive – cars were pelted by sparks and flames flickered overhead. But the motorcade was orderly and successful, an uplifting end to a day that saw close to 11,000 additional acres blackened.

“Still, the fire continued to burn. From Bar Harbor, the blaze raced down the coast almost to Otter Point, engulfing and destroying the Jackson Laboratory on its way. The fire blew itself out over the ocean in a massive fireball. But that wasn’t the end of the destruction. Almost 2000 more acres burned before the fire was declared under control on October 27. Organic soil and vegetation on the forest floor, along with matted tree roots infiltrating deeply around granite boulders, aided stubborn underground fires. Even weeks later, after rain and snow had fallen, fire still smoldered below ground. The fire was not pronounced completely out until 4 PM on November 14.” (AcadiaNet, 1995. “The Year Maine Burned.”)

Cornell: “New England states, October 24, 1947: A series of fires over northern New England, particularly in Maine, destroyed $30 million worth of timber and killed 17 people.” (No source citation.) (Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.)

NFPA: “During October 1947 Maine had nine major burn areas with an estimate acreage of from 1,000 to 100,000 acres each…A total of 230,000 acres were burned in the organized town areas of Maine. Burns within the unorganized wildland areas under control of the State Forest Service were less with 20,000 acres….

“Over 1,200 homes were destroyed and some 6,000 persons made homeless. Some sixteen persons lost their lives….

“…these forest fires…developed following a period of more than three weeks without rainfall at a time when autumn leaves were falling.

“Practically all fires were brought under control by the use of forest fire-equipment, such as portable power pumps, back tank pumps….” [p. 197]

“In Maine, the largest fire areas were in York and Oxford Counties in the southwest corner of the State, just east of the New Hampshire line, and on Mount Desert Island further east, where the city of Bar Harbor was attacked by a forest conflagration and also in Washington County in eastern Maine. There were many other major fires, which, however, were of lesser consequence at least when measured by the amount of improved property and acreage destroyed.

“Kennebunkport area – York County. Perhaps the first of the Maine forest fires to gain widespread attention broke out near U.S. Highway 1 at North Kennebunk on October 20. The fire jumped the highway and moved rapidly toward the resort village of Fortune Rock on the Atlantic Coast five or six miles distant. It is reported that there was considerable confusion as fire fighters and volunteers rushed toward the fire and trucks loaded with household goods attempted to move away from the fire area….

“The following day, Tuesday [end of p. 198], October 21, the flames swept down on the resort villages of Goose Rock Beach and Cape Porpoise southwest of Fortune Rock, destroying 200 homes and summer cottages and the 40-room Hotel Belvidere. Also destroyed was the O’Hara Water Color School with many valuable paintings. At this time the fire was burning on an unbroken eight-mile front with spot fires traveling 300 yards or more ahead of the main fire….

“Fourteen homes and some farm buildings were destroyed in the Guinea Road section of Kennebunkport…

“The following day…[s]ome 3,000 acres were then burning in this fire…” [p. 199]

“Thursday, October 23, was perhaps the most critical day of the week and the day in which the greatest destruction occurred. A sudden shift in the thirty m.p.h. wind took fire fighters by surprise and flames again swept down upon the village of Fortune Rock which had been saved from destruction on Monday afternoon. This time 150 of the 156 summer cottages were destroyed along with four hotels….The same day, the fire attacked the city of Biddeford where the hospital was menaced, but flames were stopped by the fire department pumpers. Fortunately by 2 A.M. the following morning, the wind died down providing a brief respite for fire fighters. However, again on October 25 the cities of Biddeford and Saco were endangered but the fires were kept under control until light rains occurred on October 29….some 355 buildings were destroyed from this one major fire.

“Waterboro-Newfield fires, York County. This burn developed from the merging of several separate fires which eventually cut a swath almost across York County from the New Hampshire state line almost to the coast, an airline distance of some twenty miles. This fire almost reached the Kennebunkport [end p200] fire area but was separated by the new Maine super highway which was not crossed by the fire. The number of acres burned in York County from these fires totaled 126,000….Some 2,000 men were fighting these fires….

“The following day, October 23, the fire was seriously out of control in the North Waterboro section and was estimated to have extended over a fifty-two mile fire front….On this day three-quarters of the village of East Waterboro was destroyed after several days of fire fighting and twenty-five cottages were destroyed at Ossipee Beach….” [p.201]

“Nineteen homes were lost in Newfield, and fifteen homes and the Town Hall, together will all Town records, were lost at West Newfield. Also destroyed were several churches, a school and other buildings.

“The village of North Waterboro was saved by an unexpected backdraft which temporarily tra00ed fire fighters and apparatus but took flames away from the settlement. At that time Clinton Davis of the U.S. Forest Service from Washington, D.C., reported that the situation appeared hopeless without heavy rain. No rain had fallen for twenty-three days….Some 160 square miles of York County were swept by fire….

“Fryeburg-Brownfield fire, Oxford County. This fire which burned over 38,000 acres was the second larges of the Maine fires during October….on October 21, the fire had burned over 5,000 acres… [p. 2.2]….the wind-driven flames spreading southeast destroyed the villages of Brownfield Center and East Brownfield, making some 600 persons homeless. Mass evacuation of the area was carried out as there was no hope of stopping the fire due of lack of water and fire- fighting equipment.

“On October 24, the fire was brought under control in the Hiram and Cornish areas, but some 175 homes had been destroyed at East Brownfield alone….” [p. 203]

“Mount Desert Island-Bar Harbor fire. On October 21, the fire which had been burning on Cadillac Mountain south of Bar Harbor moved to within three miles of thee congested resort city of some 4,400 permanent population….the fire was of unknown origin but may have started from hunters or cranberry pickers….” [p. 204]

“On the 22nd, 450 volunteers and eleven fire departments were fighting this fire then covering an estimated 2,000 acres and which ultimately burned 17,200 acres. The fire involved a large area of Acadia National Park. No important buildings had been destroyed prior to October 23, which was the critical day as the wind blew at an estimated 50 mph and the fire destroyed some 272 homes and estates while 2,000 fire fighters made a determined stand which prevented the flames from entering the congested center of the town, consisting largely of closely built frame buildings…. [p. 205]

“Other Maine fires. There were many other serious fires in Maine during the critical dry period from October 20 to 27. Among the largest were the 22,000 acre Centerville-Jonesboro fire in Washington County in eastern Maine; the 4,000 acre Cherryfield-Township No. 10 fire in Washington and Hancock Counties; the 3,300 acre Topsham fire and the 2,600 acre Richmond fire, both in Sagadahoc County in south central Maine; the 1,200 acre Livermore fire in Androscoggin and Kennebeck Counties; and the 1,000 acre Frye Island fire in Sebago Lake….

“The big fire in the Jonesboro-Machias area spread to within a quarter mile of Jonesboro on October 21…The fire in [p.206] the Livermore area destroyed thirty-two buildings at the Methodist Camp Ground at East Livermore….On October 22 the Jonesboro fire was burning on a ten-mile front and help was rushed from the Dow Field air base near Bangor. On October 23, twenty-five dwellings in the Richmond Camp Ground were destroyed by the big Richmond fire and at South Gardiner twenty farm homes on River Road were destroyed by this same fire. The following day, Friday, October 24, the Centerville fire had destroyed twenty homes in Machias and the Richmond fire burned seven houses and a garage in that town….

“Other New England Fire Areas. In Strafford County, New Hampshire, adjoining the York County area in Maine, the forest fire situation was no less critical than in the neighboring state, but destruction of buildings was considerably less due to more effective local protection, prompt mobilization of all available resources and outside help….About a hundred buildings wer burned in the New Hampshire fires.

“In Massachusetts, October 23, 1947, has been classed by Director Raymond Kenney of the State Division of Forestry, as one of the most threatening days in the history of the Commonwealth. A state of emergency was declared and headquarters were established in the office of the Massachusetts Adjutant General for emergency operations. Although some 15,000 acres were burned over, only thirty houses were lost due to the vigilance of local fire fighters aided by fire companies from outside communities, state forestry men and equipment, plus National Guard personnel….” [p. 207] (National Fire Protection Association. “Maine Forest Fires.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 41, No. 3, Jan 1948, pp. 197-208.)

Smalley (National Fire Protection Association): “‘The Year Maine Burned.’ Between October 21 and 25, 1947, a series of wildfires in Maine destroyed 1200 homes and took 16 lives. This event became known as ‘The Year Maine Burned.’ At the time, a number of untended and uncontrolled fires were burning, under the general feeling that the fire season was over. A prolonged summer and fall drought with high temperatures and low humidity dominated the weather scene. Although it was unusually dry, people did not worry. Past history had shown that rain would eventually come. With the single exception of 0.62 inches of rain on September 22, no rain occurred again until November 8. Strong winds hit the region during the period of October 21 to 25, with the worst winds occurring on October 23.

“The fire burned through second-growth hardwoods and conifers, with considerable logging slash on the ground. The timber stands were broken up and intermixed in many locations with fields and residential development, resulting in heavy property damage. The fire swept down Millionaires’ Row, an impressive collection of majestic summer cottages on the shore of Frenchman Bay. Property damage exceeded $23 million. In all, 205,680 acres burned, including 179,350 forested acres. Much of the burned area included Acadia National Park.” (Smalley, James C. (Ed.). Protecting Life and Property from Wildfire. NFPA, 2005, 26.)

Newspapers

Oct 24: “Portland, Oct. 24 – (AP) – Forest fires roared anew in Maine today after a destructive 24 hours that saw six communities wiped out, leaving at least ten dead, thousands homeless, and damage mounting in the millions.

“The most spectacular and destructive fire was that which swept through Bar Harbor, famed ‘way down east millionaires’ resort. Five of the dead were in the Bar Harbor area.

“Twenty-mile-an-hour winds fanned the fires into fresh life today. Lyman, a little York county dairying community of 500 people, was the latest to fall victim. John L. Elliott, tax collector, who lost his own farm, estimated that the town was ‘more than nine-tenths destroyed.’…” (AP. “Lyman Is Wiped Out by Flames. 10 Perish in Maine Fires.” Biddeford Daily Journal, ME. 10-24-1947, 1.)

Sources

AcadiaNet 1996. “The Year Maine Burned.” November 1995. Accessed at: http://www.acadia.net/anp/w95026ar.html

Associated Press. “Forest Fires At-A-Glance.” Biddeford Daily Journal, ME. 10-25-1947, p. 1. Accessed 6-30-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/biddeford-daily-journal-oct-25-1947-p-1/

Associated Press. “Lyman Is Wiped Out by Flames. 10 Perish in Maine Fires.” Biddeford Daily Journal, ME. 10-24-1947, p. 1. Accessed 6-30-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/biddeford-daily-journal-oct-24-1947-p-1/

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

Dwyer, Dialynn. “‘The year that Maine burned’: 70 years ago ravaging fires left thousands of Mainers homeless.” Boston.com, 10-29-2017. Accessed 6-29-2020 at: https://www.boston.com/news/history/2017/10/29/the-year-that-maine-burned-70-years-ago-ravaging-fires-left-thousands-of-mainers-homeless

National Fire Protection Association. 1984 Fire Almanac. Quincy, MA: 1983. p. 139.

National Fire Protection Association. “Large Loss Fires of 1947.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 41, No. 3, Jan 1948, pp. 153-195.

National Fire Protection Association. “Maine Forest Fires.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 41, No. 3, Jan 1948, pp. 197-208.

Portland Press Herald, ME. “Arsonist Flees Posse Near Highland Lake.” 10-28-1947, p. 1. Accessed 6-30-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/portland-press-herald-oct-28-1947-p-1/

Portland Press Herald, ME. “Durfee Death Probe Ended. None Responsible for Fire Fatality.” 10-29-1947, p. 23. Accessed 6-30-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/portland-press-herald-oct-29-1947-p-23/

Portland Press Herald, ME. “Maine Fire Disaster of October and November 1947…Picture Record of the Fires.” 11-1-1947, p. 24. Accessed 6-30-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/portland-press-herald-nov-01-1947-p-24/

Portland Press Herald, ME. “New Fire Death Puts Toll at 12, 17 Are Missing.” 10-27-1947, p. 1. Accessed 6-29-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/portland-press-herald-oct-27-1947-p-1/

Smalley, James C. (Ed.). Protecting Life and Property from Wildfire. Quincy, MA: National Fire Protection Association, 2005. Partially digitized by Google at: http://books.google.com/books?id=2913l73SEAUC&dq=Wildfire+1910&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Additional Reference

New England Historical Society. “The Year a State Burned: Maine Fires of 1947 Wipe Out 9 Towns.” 2029 update. Accessed 6-29-2020 at: https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/maine-fires-1947-year-state-burned/