RAN FROM FIRE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 20, 25 January 1939, Page 13

RAN FROM FIRE.

FAMILY'S PLIGHT. BABY'S FACE SCORCHED. LONG RACE WITH FLAMES, A frenzied flight through several hundred miles of blazing bush and farm land, scorched by searing heat from flames licking along the roadside and choked by clouds of spark-filled smoke and flying ashes, carried Mr. and Mrs. M. A. L. Barlow and their two children to safety when their home at Eden, on the border of Victoria, was threatened by last week's disastrous bush fires. On Monday they arrived in Auckland and now Mr. Barlow is searching the city for work. The family were living i'i the danger zone at Eden when the first alarms were given, and after helping in the fight to keep the flames away from their home, Mr. and Mrs. Barlow realised the futility of the struggle and decided to take advantage of an offer of a ride to Sydney. There was no work offering in Eden and they thought prospects might be better in Sydney. The trip down to Sydney, through miles of blazing bushland, was a nightmare. Mrs. Barlow nursed her six-weeks'-old baby and tried to protect the infant's face from the scorching heat with the shawl. But that, combined with the gpeat smoke clouds, almost suffocated the child. Her elder daughter, six years old, came through the ordeal badly frightened, but unscathed. The baby's face was severely scalded. "The flames blazed right beside the toad and at times we despaired of getting through," she said to-day, "but we realised that it would be impossible to go back. At times the smoke clouds were blinding and the air around was filled with sparks and ashes, but we had to keep going. "Frightened 1 Not at all. I have been brought up on farms and have seen a lot of rough life. And, in any case, my time was occupied keeping the children calm. The worst part was when we had won through to Sydney. There we found there was no work. That's why we came over here. "We heard there was plenty of work here, but two days in Auckland is enough to enlighten us. There seems as many unemployed here as in Australia. "I don't know what we will do. My husband is a piano tuner, but there is little doing in that line nowadays. He can tackle anything, however, so I'm hoping he will find something here. Meanwhile I can only sit and wait. He has a temporary job loading cases today. Something may turn up tomorrow. In fact, I'm sure it will."