FIRE DANGERS IN MID-CANTERBURY

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24150, 8 January 1944, Page 6

FIRE DANGERS IN MID-CANTERBURY

RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT APPROACHED Because of the number of fires alleged to have been started in Mid-Can-terbury by sparks from a train on Wednesday morning, the president of the Mid-Canterbury executive of the Farmers’ Union (Mr P. J. Mowat) has communicated with the Railways Department at Christchurch, asking for an urgent investigation into the matter. It was stated that some of the fires had done considerable damage, and that any neglect during the present dry spell could lead to disastrous consequences. “It is quite evident that the fires on Wednesday were started by a train, and, unless great care is taken, a fire may be started on a windy day, and it would be very hard to stop the flames before they reached the sea,” Mr Mowat said yesterday. Minor Fire Another minor outbreak of fire, caused by smouldering logs fanned by the north-easterly breeze, occurred in a plantation at Dromore yesterday morning. The flames were soon got under control by the staff of the Ashburton County Council. A small outbreak where the big fire occurred at Dromore on Wednesday was put out by residents of the area on Thursday, after about a chain of grass had been burnt. The chairman of the Ashburton County Council (Mr C. A. Campion) has also communicated with the Railways Department, emphasising that a grass fire at the present time could endanger fences, livestock, and human life, and asking that steps be taken to prevent any further outbreaks.