Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, 1927. FIRE BREAKS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLVII, Issue 10826, 22 January 1927, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, 1927. FIRE BREAKS.

Farmers property is adjacent .to tlie railway line between Ashburton and Chert sey will welcome the intimation that the Railway Department is prepared to assist in preventing* the outbreak of grass ifires such as swept the distinct with such disastrous results a year ago. It is announced that where breaks are necessary the Department is willing to bear - half the ' cost of ploughing a break of not less than three feet in width. This applies to pri as well as to plantations owned by the County* Council. The outlay on. this work should-not be very large; in fact, it will be Small compared with the loss that might occur through a fire of even small dimensions, and infinitesimal compared with the amount the Government! granted as compassionate allowance to sufferers last January. The farmer himself will have a fixed expenditure against a possible loss, that might be very heavy,' So thfit both parties to the agreement stand to gain by it. The County and the Dominion as a whole also should benefit:, for as the “Guardian” pointed out a year ago, the farmer —or, for the matter of that, any worker —who for any reason is not producing at capacity is an economic loss, and destruction of crops 1 and fodder, with loss of stock and, in some instances, buildings, curtails the output, a serious matter at any* time, but especially so at present when the cry is for production and yet more production. So far as the County' Council is concerned the work to be undertaken in this connection will be confined to the plantations bordering the line between the Borough, and Chertsey, for South of the river there does not exist the same danger, as on one side of tlie line is the main road and on the other is a grass road that does not 1 offer a foothold for fire. The farmers concerned will for tlieir own protection readily avail themselves of the offer of the Department, and with fire breaks extending* along all the danger zones, the possibility of fires originating* from sparks from railway* engines or from cigarette butts carelessly thrown from the carriages, should he reduced to a minimum.