FOREST FIRES
Widespread Damage in France BOMBS ON AIRFIELD EXPLODE IH.ZP. A.—Copyright) (Rec. 11.5 a.m.) PARIS, Aug. IS. Between 7000 and 8000 tone of bombs dispersed round La Rochelle airfield exploded to-day as the forest fire swept through pine woods surrounding the airfield. The explosions could bo heard 30 miles away, and huge columns of smoke arose front the area. The police ordered the evacuation of women and children from a radius of six miles around the airfield, and requisitioned all available vehicles to get them away. All available troops and forest firefighters in the region were summoned as a plane circled over the area directing operations by radio. Trains between Bordeaux and La Rochelle were stopped outside the danger zone. The explosions were started when a box of explosives in a munitions dump attached to the airfield exploded in the heat. Forest fires have encircled the small town of LossA in the Landes area of South-western] France. One thousand soldiers have arrived to attack the flames. Thirty-two wagon loads o'f grain and forage were destroyed by fires last night.
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Bibliographic details
Ashburton Guardian, Volume 69, Issue 263, 19 August 1949, Page 3
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180FOREST FIRES Ashburton Guardian, Volume 69, Issue 263, 19 August 1949, Page 3
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