FIRE ON PORT HILLS

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27563, 21 January 1955, Page 10

FIRE ON PORT HILLS

60 Acres Of Tussock Burned

FRINGE OF KENNEDY'S BUSH DAMAGED

About 60 acres of scrub, gorse, and tussock land on the Port Hills was swept by fire yesterday. The fire began in the middle of the afternoon, and although a large force of firefighters had much of the outbreak under control by 11 p.m., there was still a fairly extensive pocket blazing at midnight.

The fire was confined to the Kennedy s Bush reserve, but it threatened to spread to adjoining grazing country. Actual damage to the area will most likely be confined to the fringe of Kennedy’s Bush, which -provided an effective barrier to the spread of the flames. The fire started about 3.20 p.m. on the north-eastern boundary of the reserve. It began in tinder 'dry tussock grass on the western verge of the Summit road, about three miles from the Sign of the Kiwi. A cigarette butt carelessly discarded from a passing motor-car is thought to have been the cause of the outbreak. r

At first the fire looked to be of only minor proportions, and comparatively easy to control, but backed by a fairly strong, warm north-westerly wind, it soon spread into gorse, tussock, flax, and scrub which covers ridges and precipitous rocky gullies which border the native bush. In this growth the fire began to spread in all directions. The reserves department of the Ch'nstchurch City Council, which administers the area, was notified of the outbreak soon after it started by an adjoining property owner, Mr J. Watling. who saw the smoke. The assistant director of parks and reserves, Mr H. G. Gilpin, was quickly on the scene. A roadman who is understood to have been erecting fire warning notices in the area at the time, is reported to have stopped a bus and asked the driver to warn residents of Governor’s Bay of the danger. Members of the staff of the reserves department of the City Council and of the Heathcote, Halswell, and Mount Herbert county councils and local residents soon gathered to fight the flames. Later some residents of Cashmere joined the fire fighters and by nightfall there were no fewer than 100 in the area. Units from the Sydenham and Centra] Fire Stations went to the scene at 4.25 p.m. Difficult Areas At first the fire-fighters were not able to do much. They were not able to venture into the steep gullies, and they stood by on the verges of the area to attempt to stop the flames spreading out of the waste lands. When the fire reached the line of the native bush it seemed to die out, the bush apparently providing only mediocre fuel, but between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., with the wind still driving it along, the fire raced up a gully in the centre of the area towards the Sumr- ’. road. With flames crackling and leaping high into the air it was feared, that the flying sparks might ignite dry scrub and tussock on high ground on the other side of the road and set fire to another wide area of country. Once the sparks did set a small area alight, but a strong force of fi’ghters, who were standing in wait for this development, made short work of it with their beaters. When this danger had receded they crossed the road and set about beating out the fire along the fence line. A unit from the Christchurch Central Fire Station, with 100 gallons of water aboard, which reached the scene about 9.50 p.m., attended to a trouble spot on the roadside. Two Heathcote County Council trucks with 800 gallons of water on board were also standing by. and provided the engine with water as it moved along the road damping down still smouldering embers. A Danger Spot

At nightfall the fire-fighters turned their attention to a tongue of flame creeping along the foot of a ridge towards the bottom of the gully. This ridge was considered one of the danger spots because once the fire gained a hold it would be fanned by the full force of a heavy north-west wind. It could then readily spread through grazing country, including Otahuna, the property of Sir R. Heaton Rhodes, and move out towards Teddington. About 100 head of cattle and 1500 sheep on Otahuna were shifted out of the danger zone early in the evening. At 11 p.m. the fire-fighting force was augmented by two truck loads of men from the Royal New Zealand Air Force station, Wigram. With the elimination of any danger of the fire spreading round the edge of the road the Air Force men and other fire-fighters stood by in small groups to await further orders. At midnight the fire was still burning fiercely down the gully near the foot of Kennedy’s Bush. From the road it was difficult to estimate how far down the gully the fire wtis burning, but several fighters who knew the locality considered it was still about 400 yards from the bottom. At 10.30 p.m. the flames died down, only to flare up with renewed vigour as they reached further clumps of dry gorse and manuka scrub. Mr Watling, with a force of fire fighters, was down in this area at 11 p.m. The manager of Otahuna, Mr M. M. Fleming, who is chief rural fire officer for the Halswell County Council, and Mr M. J. Barnett, Superintendent of Parks and Reserves, were on the scene. The begrimed fighters welcomed refreshments brought to them by a Cashmere woman who had canvassed neighbours to get vacuum flasks to bring them tea. Refreshments were also sent from the Sign of the Kiwi and the Sign of the Takahe and Victoria Park. Two members of the Lyttelton St. John Ambulance Association and a nurse were on the scene to attend to burns among the volunteer helpers, and they too dispensed refreshments, returning several times from thenbase with fresh supplies. For most of the fire fighters there was little sleep last night, for the fire in the gully could still menace surrounding grassland. Most of the men expressed the intention of staying on the job until the fire was under control.

GRASS FIRE AT ISLINGTON

An extensive grass fire spread through a pit at the rear of the Islington telephone exchange yesterday afternoon. At 4.41 p.m. units from the Central and St. Albans stations went to the fire, which endangered the exchange building and nearby houses. The fire was fought also by the Islington Volunteer Brigade, and a team of fire fighters from the Paparua County Council using tanks supplied by British Pavements, Ltd. About 15 acres of the pit, which is used by the Railways Department as a dump, was burned. The fire is believed to have started from a cigarette butt or match. The fire fighters fought the flames from 2.30 p.m. At 4.30 p.m. the wind changed to the north-west and the flames flared up endangering the exchange and the Oddfellows’ Lodge hall. Up to 100 men fought the fire and council employees remained putting out minor outbreaks until 10 p.ip. At 1.08 p.m. units from the New Brighton and central stations answered a call to a small grass fire at 19 Rockinghorse road, South Brighton. There I was no damage.