HEAT AND BUSH FIRES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 28, 3 February 1932, Page 9

HEAT AND BUSH FIRES.

AUSTRALIA SWELTERS. BATHING AFTER MIDNIGHT. TWO DEATHS IN SYDNEY. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, January 29. Practically the whole of southern and eastern Australia has been sweltering under a heat wave for the past week. Hosts of bush fires are raging in country districts, and there seems little relief in sight. The wave swept down on Sydney on Friday, and from an early hour in the •morning conditions were torrid. At 11 a.m., though the temperature was only 87 degrees, the humidity was well over 90, and as the day continued the temperature rose until 2 p.m., at which hour it reached the summer p&ak of 105.G degrees. Ambulance men and hospital staffs were busy during the day, and reports showed that 90 persons collapsed and received medical treatment. Two who were taken to hospital died later from the effects of the heat wave. So great was the heat in the middle of the day that in several Sydney buildings automatic fire sprinklers, which are sealed by a substance requiring comparatively slight temperatures to melt, started to operate and several business houses had their trade interrupted in this unusual way. To add to the confusion, the setting off of the automatic sprinklers was recorded at fire brigade headquarters, with the result that a full turn-out of the brigades was ordered by the chief fire officer. When the detachment arrived at the stores affected they found, of course, that the call was a false alarm. Nevertheless, the presence of fire engines and firemen in several city buildings added to the rigours of the day. Inland, during the week-end, temperatures soared, the highest readings being Wilcannia 117, Bourke 116, Walgett 111, and Dubbo and Deniliquin 109.

Surf beaches and baths in Sydney were packed until after» midnight on Friday and throughout the week-end, thousands flocking to these resorts in an effort to keep cool. In Victoria conditions were no less rigorous and the presence of wide areas of bush fires nearer the city of Melbourne made it worse. On Friday and Sunday the temperature went to 105 degrees in Melbourne, and at places in the fire areas it soared to well over 120 degrees.