200 FIGHT FIRE AT HORNBY

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27861, 9 January 1956, Page 13

200 FIGHT FIRE AT HORNBY

15 MILE AN HOUR BLAZE DAMAGE ESTIMATED AT £3OO A grass fire that burned for 18 hours near the corner of Springs road and Hals well Junction road on Friday and Saturday destroyed about £2OO worth of fencing and £lOO worth of young pine trees. At the peak of the fire 200 men were fighting blazes on five separate fronts. They pumped more than 10.000 gallons of water from four fire-engines before they brought the fire under conttol. Two fire-fight-ing units came from the Royal New Zealand Air Force station, Wigram, and one each from the Paparua County Council and the Christchurch Fire Brigade. The Paparua county fire officer (Mr R. J. Cooke) said that strong winds spread the fire over paddocks of short grass “like greased lightning.” “The 200 fire-fighters fought- the fire like men inspired,” he said. “They brought under control in eight hours a fire that was leaping across tinder-dry grass fields at a rate of 15 miles an hour. They practically collapsed to the ground after fighting the fire in broiling summer heat.” Mr Cooke said that 15ft high earth ramps built up by the Ministry of Works some time ago proved a great hazard to the fire-fighters. “The ramps turned the main fire into about five separate forks, and made control of the fire much more difficult” he said. “The fire-fighters were handicapped further when a prevailing north-west wind switched around to the south-west. “At one stage it looked as if the fire would wipe out 40 houses at the Branston farm settlement along the fringe of Amyes road, Hornby.” he said. “But the fire-fighters saved the day.” Mr Cooke said that a man using a weed-killer spray pump worked like a Trojan to stop the fire from crossing the Halswell Junction road to threaten other properties. Many of the firefighters were volunteers. They attacked the edges of the fire with sacks and beaters in searing heat to help to save nearby farms. When the wind

swung around to the south-west the flames sped towards Mr T. W. Stephenson’s property, but were checked in good time.

Mr Cooke said that the last of the fire was not put out till 10 a.m. on Saturday. He said he did not know caused the fire, but in all probability it was accidental. 1