THE BUSH FIRES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 86, 21 January 1928, Page 2

THE BUSH FIRES

STILL BURNING IN WESTLAND. SHORTAGE OF WATER. (Per Press Association.) GREYMOUTH, January 20. The drought now being experienced on the West Coast gives no..indication of breaking. Bush fires l are still raging all over the district, but no further damage is reported. A fire raging near Burke's Creek, Reef ton, destroyed all the bush in the locality, the only things left standing being smoking, charred trunks. Fire-fighters were out all night protecting the various properties, and. so far none of the coalmining properties has suffered any serious damage. The Reefton district, however, is covered by a dense pall of smoke. Telegraph and telephone poles destroyed by the fire in the Grey Valley and other parts of the Coast were replaced to-day. The Telegraph Department reported this evening that conditions were now back to normal.

' A report from Tnangahua Junction stated that bush fires covering over 1 000 acres in that district had reached almost down to the Inangahua Junction Hotel. The residents were having an anxious time, and many of them were removing their furniture and effects away from the* danger zone. Water is being conveyed by rail from Westport to residents along the Cape Foulwind line. Hundreds of residents all over the Coast are compelled to 'carry water- for their domestic requirements. A five-seater car was, destroyed by fir© near Moana yesterday, but it is not known whether the car was - ignited by bush fires or through some mechanical defect. The atmosphere is still burdened with smoke from bush fires, although the heat from the burning scrub and timber was less intense this evening.

OUTBREAKS IN NELSON. NELSON, January 20.' Bush fires On an extensive scale have been raging in the Nelson district for some days. Records kept by the Forest Service show the humidity is the lowest on record. Two thousand acres of scenic reserve were destroyed near Kawatiri. A fire in the Tophouse vicinity, which came up from the Wairau Valley, has so far not ascended the forest protect-on areas) on the adjacent hills. Every effort is being made to conserve lai-ge areas of forest. Much valuable protective work has already been carried out by the Forest Service toward the West Coast. The season is l the driest within memory. ,