BUSH FIRES IN NORTH

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 85, 20 January 1928, Page 6

BUSH FIRES IN NORTH

WAIKATO AND KING COUNTRY. MILES OF COUNTRY SWEPT. iPer Press Association.) AUCKLAND, January 19. Bush fires are raging throughout the ' Waikato, and in- some places the blaze is as spectacular as a display of Chines© fireworks on an extensive scale, said an Auckiantler who returned from Wellington on the Limited Express today. The fires stretch right back for miles and the countryside is thick with smoke. There are small fires close to the line, but they are in no way dangerous to trains. Some miles north of Taumarunui, a vivid conflagration could be seen. The guard on the Limited remarked | that while the express had come through the fire-swept country, the flames were never close enough to en-] danger the train. The road to Taupo was dangerous for motorists, and very few were attempting to get through from the south. The guard had heard that a hospital some miles from the line was in danger, but had not been able to confirm this. He thought that the fires round about Raetihi were now well in hand, as the residents were well supplied with hoses from nearby towns.

FIRES ON WEST COAST. . SOME NARROW ESCAPES. GREYMOUTH, January 19. The whole countryside was enveloped to-day in a blue haze from the smoke from bush fires which, for the past two weeks, have been raging all over the West Coast. Owing to the hazy conditions the range of visibility was very limited to-day. Along the Grey-Otira railway, so dense was the haze of sjmoke over Lake Brunner that only the dim outline of the mountain, ranges surrounding the lake was visible to passengers travelling by the express trains.

Bush and scrub fires had worked very close to the edge of the road in some places,' the flames in one instance having partially destroyed a telegraph pole. Full advantage is being taken of the dry spell by settlers to clear off waste portions of their land. Last night there was a further large blaze in the Mananui and Ross road districts, and the forestry officials have been experiencing a trying time in their endeavour to prevent the fires reaching their plantation in that locality. -.Further-particulars'of the bush fires raging in the: Murcheson district state that 38 tents 1 and a cook-house were destroyed at Top House. The loss suffered by the Public Works Department amounts to £IOOO. The homestead of Mr Bleckynden, of Black Valley, 'had a- narrow escape, a belt of bush between the homestead and the fire saving the building. In the Upper Matakitaki the settlers have had a strenu 7 ous time in fighting the flames, and in several places narrow escapes,have been recorded. ' . •

On Sunday night, Mr Marsh Forman's house caught alight on three occasions, the combined efforts of the settlers being instrumental in holding back the flames. Mr Delia Bosca was the worst sufferer, and his paddocks, with the exception of about six acres, were destroyed. He thinks a dozen or so sheep were also incinerated, 'although he has not yet been able to investigate. The fire started on Saturday, and travelled up the river on Sunday afternoon through Mr Delia Bosca's back terraces to Bastin's clearings. At 2 a.m. on Monday the flames turned back and took Reid's bottom clearing. On Monday the fire sprang up worse than ever, taking everything before it. The fire-fighters had many gruelling experiences 'while saving Mr Delia ca*s house and haystacks. In an efford to stay the fire they cut down the tall frees, some of which were burning at the tops. Working in the darkness made the task more difficult.

The fires, of course, have done a ' great amount of good where they have been kept tinder control, fern and blaekberrv disappearing in good style. On Tuesday a raging fire entered from Kawa-tiri to the Gowan, a distance of three miles. The Gowan Valley, -was also the scene of numerous outbreaks. Apart from destroying the green bush, the fires did not do any damage. Fires are still raging in the locality, but no further serious damage is apprehended. A report from Arthur's Pass this evening stated that a of smoke has descended over the district from the bush fires which are raging fiercely in the Moana district and the Otira Valley. The dry spell is an acute shortage water, especially in the country districts where tanks have run dry and water has to be carried from the nearest creek or river, the spectacle of housewives engaged in laundry work along the riveivbanks being not uncommon, in some instances washing coppers have been removed to the banks of the Grey River, indicating that the pioneering spirit is not lacking in the present generation when, cases of emergency arise. Business firms in Westport are working with restricted staffs as a result of an epidemic of sickness, stated to be due to the long spell of dry weather affecting the water supply. The ailment is not regarded seriously, but it leaves the victims for the time being in a weak state of mind and body.