{"id":20006,"date":"2022-02-15T13:31:38","date_gmt":"2022-02-15T18:31:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=20006"},"modified":"2022-02-15T13:32:42","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T18:32:42","slug":"episode-534-dateline-may-30-1686-pierre-de-troyes-temiskaiming-forest-fires-sam-markou-firefighter-red-skeoch-inadvertent-fire-starter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=20006","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 534 DATELINE MAY 30, 1686 — PIERRE DE TROYES, Temiskaiming forest fires — Sam Markou, firefighter — Red Skeoch, inadvertent fire starter"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPISODE 534  DATELINE MAY 30, 1686 — PIERRE DE TROYES, Temiskaiming forest fire \u2014 dateline 1957: Sam Markou, firefighter -dateline 1970: <\/div>\n
Red Skeoch, fire starter
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Alan Skeoch<\/div>\n
Feb.15, 2022<\/div>\n

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SAM MARKOU:  Dateline : summer day 1957<\/div>\n

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\"Forest<\/div>\n

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SAM MARKOU\u2019S fire was likely not this big but it was burning and ready to jump across the gap by which they got into the lake.<\/div>\n

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Sam Markou and I have shared the last half of the the 20th century and the first quarter of<\/div>\n
the 21st century.  We did not share this forest fire though.<\/div>\n

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Sam Markou called me yesterday after reading the story of the great forest fires of<\/div>\n
1911 and 1916.  \u201cAlan, that story reminded me of the summer I worked near the <\/div>\n
Manitoba border of Ontario as a teen ager.  I was part of a small team sent to douse<\/div>\n
a forest fire. Small fire it was thought so we were given a lot of hand pumped backpack<\/div>\n
equipment.  The fire was burning close to a small lake.  Just as we were filling the<\/div>\n
backpacks we noticed the fire had got bigger and was burning down both sides of<\/div>\n
the lake.  We dropped our gear and sped by canoe to the the gap. We got out in the nick<\/div>\n
of time.  I don\u2019t know what happened to our gear.\u201d  Sam and I have shared  a lot of<\/div>\n
adventures in our lives.  Teen agers of the same lucky generation.  Maybe this summer<\/div>\n
we will paddle from Toronto to Kenora and then NW to Caliper Lake just to see if<\/div>\n
his fire fighting gear is still there.  Maybe not.<\/div>\n

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TEMISKAMING FOREST FIRE: dateline  May 30, 1686<\/div>\n

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\"File:Fire-Forest.jpg<\/div>\n

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 FORESTS OF TEMISKAMING ARE PRONE TO FIRE\u2026NOT JUST THEN OR NOW BUT ALWAYS<\/div>\n

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Anyone who believes those great Temiskaming forest fires  were the only such<\/div>\n
conflagrations will be wrong.  Granted the piles of slash left by homesteaders and<\/div>\n
miners provided fuel for the fires of 1911,1916 and 1922.   But forest fires<\/div>\n
in the Boreal Forests of Canada are as old as time.  At least it seemed that <\/div>\n
way when I cam across this account by Pierre de Troyes, dated May 30, 1686:<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe fire burned into the woods with great fierceness pushed along by<\/div>\n
a very strong wind \u2026 Whirlwinds of flame swept swept the length of the portage \u2026<\/div>\n
we were obliged to run with all our strength, while the fire while the fire pressed<\/div>\n
so closely that the sleeve of shirt was burned by the shower of sparks and burning<\/div>\n
cinders \u2026 We hurriedly climbed into our canoes \u2026 and moved to the centre of the<\/div>\n
lake, which at that spot was only thirty feet wide.  The fire then became so furious<\/div>\n
that the flames swept like a torrent over our heads.  and set fire to the bush on<\/div>\n
the other side of the lake.\u201d<\/div>\n
    North of Lake Temiskaming, May 30, 1686, Pierre de Troyes<\/div>\n

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GRASS FIRE, FIFTH LINE, ERN TOWNSHIP, WELLINGTON COUNTY, 1970<\/div>\n

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Dogs do talk, Peter certainly did the day of the grass fire.  \u201cRed started a fire today\u2026lost control of it\u2026we gave up!\u2026where is my dinner”<\/div>\n

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\"New<\/div>\n
Grass fires happen every springtime.  The causes are often human centred.  <\/div>\n

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Arnold \u201cRed\u201d Skeoch came home to Toronto from a day at the farm<\/div>\n
in early spring around 1970.  His pantlegs were black.  His bare legs<\/div>\n
were black.  His arms were black.  Everything else was wet with sweat.  His dog, Pete, was <\/div>\n
concerned.  We could tell by the way the dog reported to us.  Dad\u2019s<\/div>\n
comment was longer and larded with curse words.  \u201cThe goddamn grass fire <\/div>\n
got out of hand.  I started the fire just to clear a patch of the garden but the<\/div>\n
wind caught it.  I tried to stamp it out\u2026ran back and forth using my coat but<\/div>\n
the fire got bigger and bigger.   I let it burn\u2026exhausted.  Burned like a son<\/div>\n
 of a bitch all the way to the tree line in the back field.\u201d  When we drove<\/div>\n
up to the farm the next day the front fields were all black and later became<\/div>\n
a rich green with new growth feeding on the ashes.  The tree line at the back<\/div>\n
had held and quashed the fire.   That was the biggest grass fire that dad<\/div>\n
started but it was not the last.  We should have kept dad on the dog leash<\/div>\n
rather than Pete.<\/div>\n

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Mom love dad, in spite of all the reasons not to do so.  When he got in trouble, which was often, she had one word for him.  \u201cOh, Red,<\/div>\n
you Fathead.\u201d   This was one of those days.<\/div>\n

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SOME SAY THE WORLD WILL END IN FIRE, SOME SAY IN HATE<\/div>\n

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Robert Frost\u2019s popular poem on the world ending in fire is thought to be a<\/div>\n
compression of Dante\u2019s Inferno.  Hell in other words where humans<\/div>\n
are trapped by ice as the forest of hell burns towards their expose heads\u2026or<\/div>\n
something line that.   Not a pleasant prospect.   The poem has even deeper<\/div>\n
origins.  But let\u2019s keep it simple.    Red Skeoch must have felt his little<\/div>\n
world of agriculture was about to be incinerated the day.  And I believe<\/div>\n
he used the word \u2018hell\u2019 often.  \u201cHow in hell can I get this goddamned fire out?”<\/div>\n

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Fire and Ice <\/h1>\n