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Out west the summer of 2022 will long be remembered as the year of fire, but the Adirondacks also has a history of fire.
The years 1903 and 1908 were two great fire years in the Adirondacks. An article titled “Years of Fire” in the March/April 1981 Adirondack Life notes that “During both years the northeast suffered from drought. Due to sloppy logging, the woods were filled with piles of slash, the discarded tops, and limbs of trees. The railroads, which crossed the Adirondacks in the 1890s, failed to equip their wood and coal burning locomotives with spark arrestors. Although mandated by state law the penalties for violating the equipment law were so insignificant the railroads ignored them, and fires started all up and down the rail lines.”
We at Adirondack Architectural Heritage were devastated to hear of the terrible fire that engulfed several of the buildings at White Pine Camp on Sunday evening. By Monday morning, we learned that the fire had been contained to a cluster of buildings in what was the former service complex and that the camp’s Main Lodge, lakeside cabins, boathouses, and other buildings were spared.
Almost 30 years ago, Dana Carvey’s character, “Grumpy Old Man,” was a popular recurring feature of Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update.
The Club Camp is often mentioned as the first permanent structure built on 
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is participating in events across the state this month to celebrate Smokey Bear’s 75th anniversary.
Over the years I have put my canoe into the waters at Low’s Lower Dam (constructed 1907); and paddled the meandering Bog River Flow up to Hitchins Pond.
The last few years have brought a dramatic shift in fire behavior in the Western United States. Fires are more intense, more common in the wildland-urban interface, and the burning seasons are longer. Most fire professionals no longer even recognize “fire seasons” in parts of the country, but rather “fire years.” All of this is occurring while there is shrinking pool of human resources to fight fires.
Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has reminded the public that with spring approaching and conditions for wildfires heightened, residential brush burning is prohibited through May 14th across New York State.
Chilson Volunteer Fire Department will mark National Fire Prevention Week this year with a pancake breakfast on Saturday, October 14 from 8 am to 10 am at the department’s Chilson Community House at 60 Putts Pond Road.
Recently, I was returning from Nubble Cliff in the Giant Mountain Wilderness when I passed a tent on the southeast shore of the Giant’s Washbowl and heard someone breaking branches or dead trees, presumably gathering wood for a campfire.
Residential brush burning is prohibited through May 14 across New York State.
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