1825 — Oct 7, Wildfires, Miramichi (New Brunswick, Canada, >160); northern ME (0)– 0

Canada
— <300 Lambert. Redcoat Sailor: The Story of Sir Howard Douglas. 1956. --280-300 New Brunswick Canada Natural Resources. Great Miramichi Fire. Accessed 6-8-2020. --100-200 Bird. These Are the Maritimes. 1959. -- 160 CNN.com. “Wildfires Throughout History.” 6-30-2007 update. -- >160 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 360.
— 160 National Interagency Fire Center. “Historically Significant Wildland Fires.”
— 160 Smalley, James C. (Ed.). Protecting Life and Property from Wildfire. 2005, p. 19.
— <160 Wright. The Miramichi… 1944. Maine -- 0 Geller. 832,000 Acres: Maine’s 1825 Fire & Its Piscataquis Logging Aftermath. 2020, p. 19. Narrative Information CNN: “….After a summer of sparse rain, sporadic wildfires in Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick reached disastrous levels in October 1825. Strong winds spurred the conflagration, which burned through forests and settlements in Maine and along the Miramichi River in Canada. Among the worst wildfires in North American history, the Miramichi fire burned 3 million acres, killed 160 people and left 15,000 homeless. “An eyewitness account, preserved by the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources, described the scene: "A loud roaring was heard in the woods, and from the burnt substances still continuing to thicken the atmosphere, it was so dark that the flames could not be distinguished, though they were more than one mile from the town."” (CNN. “Wildfires Throughout History,” 6-30-2007 update.) Cornell: “Maine and New Brunswick, October 1825: Drought conditions helped to turn a small fire accidentally set by lumbermen into a conflagration that spread over 3 million acres. The fire destroyed many small towns and settlements in northern Maine and southern New Brunswick and killed at least 160 people.” (Cornell. The Great International Disaster Book (3rd ed.). 1982, p. 360.) Geller: “….832,000 acres burned, a staggering expanse of land. Within a few hours beginning in the early evening on October 7, 1825 a raging forest fire was on its way to engulfing much of the Piscataquis River watershed. The fire, which for a time was known as Maine’s Miramichi fire, eventually burned 1,300 square miles.3 The conflagration started in the townships where the southerly flow of the Piscataquis River bends to continue east to the Penobscot River. For two weeks or more the fire burned and smoldered.” (p. 17) “The fire started when a sudden violent gale, reported by writers as blowing from the north and northwest, fanned small and numerous land-clearing fires in Guilford township, and probably in other near-by townships, into a single inferno. Fire-rich material, decaying stumps in cleared fields, stubble left from the fall harvest, dried grass, wooden fences, and tinder-dry woodlots, covered the countryside. Water was low to non-existent in some places and many peoples’ wells were dry. “Initially the settlers organized to fight the fire, but they quickly realized they could not control it. The high winds drove the fire and sent burning debris through the air. The wind-blown firebrands dropped into the forest crowns of settlers’ woodlots. Burning limbs dropped to and ignited the forest floor. The fire seemed to be burning everywhere. Folks retreated to their own farms and clusters of homes, filled anything they could with water, took down wooden fences, ploughed up the earth, and set backfires. Some settlers took long poles and made them into swabs, which they dunked in water and then rubbed their roofs to keep them wet and put out the flying firebrands. Other people soaked woolen bedding and laid it on their roofs. “Miraculously, no reports included loss of human life.” (pp. 18-19) (Geller, Bill. 832,000 Acres: Maine’s 1825 Fire & Its Piscataquis Logging Aftermath. Farmington, ME: Mountain Explorations Publishing Company, 2020.) Smalley: “Miramichi Fire. Land developers of that era clearcut and burned the vast forests of the Atlantic seaboard, taking only the best timber and leaving the rest lying on the ground. This practice resulted in a number of very destructive forest fires. In 1825 in Maine and Canada, the Miramichi Fire burned over 3 million acres (800,000 acres in Maine) and killed 160 people. This destructive wildfire occurred as a result of many small settler and logging fires all burning at the same time.” (Smalley. Protecting Life and Property from Wildfire. 2005, p. 19.) Sources: Bird, Will R. These Are the Maritimes. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1959. Excerpt pp. 272-273, 1825 Miramichi Fire, accessed at: http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/charlotte_taylor/Folder1/Miramichi_Fire_of_1825.htm CNN. “Wildfires Throughout History,” 6-30-2007 update. Accessed at: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/30/historic.wildfires/index.html Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982. Geller, Bill. 832,000 Acres: Maine’s 1825 Fire & Its Piscataquis Logging Aftermath. Farmington, ME: Mountain Explorations Publishing Company, 2020. Accessed 6-8-2020 at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1315&context=mainehistory Lambert, R. S. Redcoat Sailor: The Story of Sir Howard Douglas. London: MacMillan and Co, 1956. “Excerpt from pages 127-146 on Miramichi Fire of 1825.” Accessed 6-8-2020 at: http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/charlotte_taylor/Folder1/Miramichi_Fire_of_1825.htm National Interagency Fire Center. “Historically Significant Wildland Fires.” Accessed 6-8-2020 at: https://www.nifc.gov/fireInfo/fireInfo_stats_histSigFires.html New Brunswick Canada Natural Resources. Great Miramichi Fire (webpage). “The largest fire ever in eastern North America.” Accessed 6-8-2020 at: https://web.archive.org/web/20101013094259/http://www.gnb.ca/0079/miramichi_fire-e.asp 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 Wright, Esther Clark. The Miramichi: A Study of the New Brunswick River and the People Who Settled Along It. New Brunswick: Tribune Press, 1944.