Forest fires were a regular occurrence in Connecticut during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with anywhere between 15,000 to over 100,000 acres burning annually.

Early on, sparks thrown off by locomotives were a major cause, accounting for as much as one-third of all Connecticut forest fires. By 1929, the overwhelming majority of forest fires in the state were caused by discarded cigarettes and cigars, while locomotive sparks accounted for only 5% of the fires.

The state created a Forest Fire Warden position in 1905. A 1914 report by the Connecticut Experiment Station indicated that 503 forest fires had burned over 10,000 acres between January and July of that year, causing losses of $45,000. The State Fire Warden was praised for keeping the losses from being any larger.

Cornwall’s first Fire Warden was Henry J. Bouteiller, who had been a forester in France before coming to this country in 1880. A fire lookout tower on top of Mohawk Mountain was built in 1922 following a fire that destroyed 5,000 acres of woodland. Bouteiller walked to the tower daily during fire season.

“No trip to Mohawk is complete without a visit to the fire tower…. Here during the dry seasons a keen-eyed fire guard keeps vigil, to watch for the smoke of the dreaded forest fire. A single careless smoker, or unextinguished camp fire could easily start a roaring blaze and soon reduce the fair prospect to desolation.”

~ Harrison G. Streeter, “Connecticut Vacation Spots,”
Hartford Courant, July 7, 1929