SERIOUS OUTBREAK

TARAWERA DISTRICT

p.A. AUCKLAND, This Day. Further concern was caused in the Rotorua district in an entirely new direction yesterday when fire broke out in the country bordering Lake Tarawera, between the Green Lake and Mount Tarawera. The fire spread rapidly through the dry undergrowth and threatened the caretaker's house at Lake Tarawera. At one stage the caretaker's residence and other hutments were completely encircled. Later fires started to swing towards the tearooms at the buried village and the scrub country surrounding it. The fire created a serious menace to Gov-ernment-planted forests edging the Blue and Green Lakes. A forestry fire patrol sent an urgent call to the commander of the Maori troops, and a detachment, complete with steel helmets and fire-fighting equipment, was quickly sent to the scene., The men proceded to cut firebreaks and take other precautions, but towards evening the threat had abated.