Table 1 Historical newspaper articles reporting fires from the same years as the tree-ring record near or on Catoctin Mountain, Maryland, USA, from 1845 to 1942, used in our fire history study in 2018. Date reported is the date that newspapers recorded as the wildfire ignition date, not the date of the article. Fire scar seasonality by tree-ring follows Speer (2012). Days since wetting rain is the number of days without >0.254 cm of rain. Cause of fire recorded as “incendiary” in the newspapers refer to human causation
From: Fire history and dendroecology of Catoctin Mountain, Maryland, USA, with newspaper corroboration
Date reported | Fire scar seasonality by tree-rings | Reporting newspaper name | Days since wetting rain | Cause of fire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
16 Apr 1845 | Dormant | Catoctin Whig | 10 | None given |
13 May 1857 | Undetermined | Hagerstown Herald | 9 | None given |
11 May 1872 | Dormant | The Catoctin Clarion | 10 | Charcoal pits and incendiary |
12 May 1879 | Dormant | Hagerstown Herald | 14 | None given |
20 May 1885 | Dormant | The Washington Post | 24 | None given |
8 May 1888 | Dormant | The Washington Post, The Catoctin Clarion | 7 | Incendiary |
12 May 1891 | Dormant | The Baltimore Sun | 9 | None given |
11 May 1899 | Dormant | The Catoctin Clarion | 5 | Incendiary or locomotive spark |
15 Nov 1901 | Dormant | The Washington Post | 30 | None given |
15 Dec 1913 | Dormant | The Frederick Post | 8 | None given |
17 Nov 1917 | Dormant | The Frederick Post | 18 | None given |
23 Apr 1923 | Dormant | The Baltimore Sun, The Frederick Post | 9 | Incendiary |
9 Sep 1930 | Dormant | The Frederick Post | 13 | Incendiary |
20 Apr 1936 | Early earlywood and dormant | The Frederick Post | 8 | Huckleberry pickers |
13 Nov 1939 | Dormant | The Morning Herald1 | 6 | Incendiary |
17 Apr 1942 | Dormant | The News2 | 6 | None given |