MOUNTAIN HUT FIRES

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27665, 23 May 1955, Page 12

MOUNTAIN HUT FIRES

DANGER THROUGH LOSS OF BOOTS WARNING TO SKI ING ASSOCIATION Warnings about the possible serious consequences of fires in mountain huts above the snowline were given at two meetings in Christchurch on Saturday by a veteran Canterbury ski-ing enthusiast, Mr G'. W. A. Day. Speaking at the annnual meeting of delegates of clubs affiliated with the New Zealand Ski Association he recalled that there had been a serious fire in the Tararua Tramping Club hut on Mount Ruapehu. In that area the persons who had been burnt out had been able to go to another hut, said Mr Day, but in the South Island, where huts were not grouped together so closely, a fire could be very serious. If ski-ers or mountaineers were in their bunks when a fire broke out and they could not locate their boots it was, unlikely that they would survive getting down the mountain. He therefore recommended that members using huts should make sure that they could find their boots in an emergency. When Mr Day spoke at the annual meeting of the Federated Mountain Clubs of New Zealand he suggested that the federation might develop a standard fire- drill and advise clubs on fire precautions. The meeting was told that a report on fire equipment was being prepared, and the president (Mr E. M. Wilson) said that Mr Day and others interested would be consulted to obtain the benefit of their knowledge.