FIRES IN BLENHEIM DISTRICT

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23859, 30 January 1943, Page 7

FIRES IN BLENHEIM DISTRICT

STOCK LOSSES REPORTED (P.A.) BLENHEIM, January 29. Black swathes were burned across five farms and a sheep station for a distance of several miles yesterday, when a fierce grass fire swept an area exceeding 1500 acres, near Blenheim. More than 200 men, .including members of the armed forces, were engaged in an all-day fight with the flames, and only their strenuous efforts averted the destruction threatened to homesteads and station buildings. In addition to the serious loss of feed, two stacks of wheat on the Tyntesfield Estate were destroyed as well as a large blucgum plantation, an orchard and a vacant whare. On other properties there were stock losses, but the number of sheep trapped is not yet known. The fire started in a paddock of headed wheat and stubble at 8.30 a.m., spreading swiftly, and was not controlled until after 5 p.m. As a result of the two months of drought, the district is as dry as tinder and the fire risk is mounting daily. Already there have been several more or less serious fires, in one of which the Wairau River Board had a plantation of 10 000. trees virtually wiped out. Another fire was caused when a header harvester capsized, starting a fire which destroyed the machine and menaced the homestead.