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Vol. 63, Issue 150
Proudly serving Cranbrook and area since 1951
www.dailytownsman.com
LARRY TOOZE PHOTO
Larry Tooze captured images of the lightning storm over Marysville on Monday night, August 4.
Season of wildfire ‘The World No communities are threatened, but there are more than a dozen wildfires burning in the East Kootenay’s central region S A L LY M AC D O N A L D Townsman Staff
Thunderstorms over the long weekend have led to a cluster of new fires around Cranbrook and Kimberley. As of Tuesday lunchtime, the Wildfire Management Branch was reporting 14 fires in the area between Creston and Fernie, Koocanusa and Canal Flats. The most significant fire remains the Whitetail Brook fire, burning 10 kilometres east of Canal Flats. Now 1,550 hectares in size, firefighters have managed to contain 40 per cent of the fire, which started as a result of lightning on Sunday, July 27. A Type 2 incident team is now in control of the fire, which is burning in a northeasterly direction, away from Canal Flats and the highway. There are 110 firefighters, six
Convulsed’
Part II in a four-part series describing the outbreak of World War One, 100 years ago this week, as seen through the pages of the Cranbrook Herald B A R RY CO U LT E R
ARNE PETRYSHEN PHOTO
A helicopter carrying firefighting personnel takes off from Bighorn Helicopters in Cranbrook, Tuesday, Aug. 5. helicopters and 13 pieces of heavy equipment working on the fire. In the meantime, a wildfire just east of Whiteswan Lake Provincial Park has grown to 650 hectares in size. The lightning caused fire started on July 30. The two fires have resulted
in an area closure put in place last week to protect the safety of firefighters as well as the public. Whiteswan Lake Provincial Park is closed until further notice, as is access to Top of the World Provincial Park.
See WILDFIRES , Page 4
The news of the outbreak of war in Europe dominated the front page of the Cranbrook Herald on August 6, 1914 — the day after Canada officially declared war on Germany. But the local news still demanded to be heard, and on August 13, 1914, the Herald’s main story concerned a “mysterious and baffling murder” of a Japanese resident of Cranbrook — Sasa Moto, who seemed to have been plagued by a recent run of bad luck, according to the Herald’s reportage, mostly involving the theft of livestock from his “truck farm.” On the evening of Saturday, August 8, Sasa Moto was shot dead on the front porch of his house, two miles southwest of Cranbrook. His wife heard the shot, found the still
breathing Sasa Moto on the porch and alerted the authorities and other members of the Japanese community. “…The murderer lay in wait for his victim, just behind the woodpile, which was only a few feet from the back door,” the Herald reported. “The shot was fired from a shotgun with a number 5 shell, and struck Sasa Moto full in the face, shots entering his head from his chin to his eyes … Sheriff Morris and Constable Logan are working on the case.” The Herald went on to speculate that Sasa Moto “must have possessed an enemy who was continually on his trail, and anxious to do him harm.”
See THE WORLD , Page 4