GORSE FIRE IN PAPANUI

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22339, 1 March 1938, Page 8

GORSE FIRE IN PAPANUI

Spectacular Blaze In Paddock ANXIETY FOR SAFETY OF HOUSES Hundreds of Papanui and St. Albans residents were drawn from their homes late last night by the spectacle of a huge gorse fire, blazing fiercely in a paddock a few hundred yards from a thickly populated residential area. The fire finally died down after burning for much more than an hour, leaving as the only damage blackened gorse in a 16 acre paddock, east of the eastern end of Paparoa street, the property of Dr. Giiy Haskins; but in its early stages the fire caused much anxiety to those whose properties were nearby. Fortunately, the wind blew the flames away from most of the houses situated to the west of the blaze. But at various times during the fire the wind showed signs, which were not fulfilled, of changing its direction. It was seen soon after it started that there was a possibility of it working towards an empty house in Green’s road, Papanui, and a band of volunteer workers, to check it, started a small fire of their own to make a firebreak, which successfully halted the main blaze. In another place, too, on the eastern side of the fire, near Paparoa street, workers also checked the fire from menacing vegetable plots and some outhouses belonging to a nearby house. The strong wind blowing in the early stages carried many sparks, and these also caused anxiety because near the paddock which was on fire there were adjoining fields filled with dry gorse, recently cut, and gorse fences leading to homes. The City Fire Brigade was called to the outbreak, but it was outside the city firefighting area by a few hundred yards. . The glare from the fire could be seen from many places in the city and suburbs, and attracted a big crowd. Most of the onlookers could not get close to it, because the centre of a fire was in a property fronting no road, and accessible only through paddocks. Nevertheless the nearest streets were filled with motor-cars, bicycles, and pedestrians. Many of the residents of the district who went to the fire were in night attire. .Three Other Calls Another malicious false alarm was given to the Christchurch Fire Brigade yesterday. The brigade received a call to the corner of Madras and Gloucester streets at 6 p.m. A previous malicious false alarm was given on Sunday night. The brigade was called to two miner fires yesterday. The first was caused through fat boiling over in a flat occupied by Mrs R. Buchanan and owned by Mrs K. A. Cotter at 28 Gracefield avenue, the call being at 10.40 a.m. .Little damage was done. The brigade was called to a grass fire on a vacant section in Langdown street ift 1.44 p.m. The outbreak was not difficult to suppress. '