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44,744 acres of forest land were burned in Virginia last year in the worst year for forest fires since 1952. In 1952, the state lost 111,000 acres in forest fires. The 1963 total of 3,288 forest fires set a record high dating back for at least twenty-one years to 1942. 2,685'fires were reported that year, according to report by the Virginia District Forester. The area suffering the highest loss was the Northern Piedmont section of the state. In these 16 counties, located north of the Jame6 River and east of the Blue Ridge Mts., a total of 545 fires burned 9,529 acres. For this section of the state, this was the most acreage lost in fires dating back as far as 1946. The previous high was in 1952 when 4,670 acres burned.
For Rappahannock County, nine forest fires burned a total of 51 acres of forest land. The greatest causes of forest fires was brush and trash burn ing and smoking. These causes account for about 60 percent of all fires. Other causes include railroads, campfires, children playing with matches plus numerous other things. Incediarism in 1963 was on the increase as about 10 percent of all fires were started intentionally. Normally incediarism accounts for about 5 per cent. In forest fire law enforcement, 46 cases involving violation of the brush burning law, which is in effect from
86.3%