PEAT FIRES SPREAD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 11, 14 January 1935, Page 3

PEAT FIRES SPREAD.

FARMLANDS ENDANGERED

LARGE AREAS OF SWAMP,

(By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) HAMILTON, this day. The peat fire which woke out sonic weeks ago at Tc Hoe-o-tainui has spread through 100!) acres of grassland, interspersed with stumps, in addition to tlie rougher country that was burned at the back. An idea of the of the task of the fire-fighters is given by the fact that six miles of fences had to be pulled up to save them from the flames. The fire is being held in check along a one and, a half mile front, and it is hoped to save the remaining 500 acres of grassland on Mr. L. R. W. Iteid's property.

The file also spread southward on to the property of the South Auckland Flax Company at Orini, and swept some hundreds of acres of scrub adjoining the flax plantations. A large number of men assembled to repel the advance of the fire on the flax, but a change of wind and a heavy shower saved the situation, and although the fire is still smouldering on the property it is undjr control.

The fire is also burning along both banks of the Paranui drain, and has burnt about 100 acres of grass and timber land belonging to a number of settlers. The total area affected by this outbreak is at least 4000 acres. Throughout the waste land of the Taupiri swamp area the number of peat fires is increasing. The outbreaks are *o general that during the whole of the journey from Hamilton to Morrinsville by railway it is impossible to see more than a few yards on cither side of the track until late in the morning, owing to the thick blanket of smoke. For miles the fences along the track have been burned either by the present or former outbreaks. Hamilton is shrouded every morning by a haze of smoke, which gathers when the wind drops at night. The haze is usually accompanied by a noticeable drop in temperature. It has a distinct odour of peat, and causes the eyes to smart.