1000 Acres Burnt, Sheep Scorched At Amberley

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28661, 11 August 1958, Page 8

1000 Acres Burnt, Sheep Scorched At Amberley

The most serious of three grass and scrub fires in North Canterbury at the week-end destroyed 1000 acres of browntop and tussock grazing country and badly scorched several hundred sheep, 21 of which later had to be killed.

The fire, on the property of the James Harrison trust Eskvale Station at the foot of Mount Grey, Amberley, started earlv on Saturday afternoon and was not brought under control till early yesterday morning. Its cause is not known.

The fire at Eskvale—first noticed early in the afternoon —did not, at first, appear to be very serious, but it became more widespread in the evening. The glow could be seen for many miles. The Amberley Volunteer Fire Brigade’s unit arrived at 9 and from then until the early hours of Sunday morning when it was finally brought under control, from 150 to 200 persons from the Amberley area fought the blaze. About two months ago, about 500 acres were destroyed by fire on the same property. Sheep Killed The manager of the property (Mr A. D. Kingsbury) said last evening that, so far, he had had to kill 21 sheep. He said he thought at least 150 to 200 sheep were badly scorched and many of them would have to be killed. All the fences in the block were destroyed and many of sheep have roamed into deep bushy gullies. A muster would be started today so that the full damage could be assessed, said Mr Kingsbury. The fire was first noticed by a neighbour, Mr G. S. Palmer, about 2 p.m. Mr Palmer immediately telephoned Mr Kingsbury and shifted some of the sheep and the cattle to safety. A general alarm was then called. Later, when the blaze became widespread the alarm was given to the Amberley brigade, six miles away. The fire-fighters, with knapsack pumps and beaters were split up into three groups, and communication was maintained with the aid of a walkie-talkie radio. The steep country made fire-fighting difficult, but because their efforts were well co?ordinated, the parties soon prevented the fire from spreading over a wide area, and it was finally brought under control two hours after the brigade arrived. “The brigade and the helpers did a wonderful job,” said Mr Kingsbury. Cattle Escape Mr Kingsbury said that it was not known where or how the fire started. Most of the sheep drifted towards the closed gatej and were trapped. The terrified cattle ran through the flames and made the safety of a lagoon. The property carries about 2000 sheep and 40 head of cattle. Wood end Fire The fire in the Waikuku-Wood-end district, between the Main North road and the coast, is believed to have started from the burning off of gorse near the Waikuku Beach area. The Rangiora Volunteer Fire Brigade was called shortly before mid-day. The staff of Kaiapoi Volunteer Fire Brigade, the Rangiora County Council, and the State Forest plantation at Ashley an severed the call. Starting near the Kaiapohia monument, the fire fanned by the strong north-west wind burned for nearly two hours before the alarm was given. The , fire swept through a young plantation belonging to Mr R. Petrie. The

Rangiora Brigade concentrated on preventing the fire back burning against the wind and endangering Mr Petrie’s sawmill in Monument road. The other firefighters stopped the fire entering the Rangiora County Council’s plantation and also prevented it spreading to Mr S. Wright's property at Woodend. The fire was under control by 3 p.m. but the forestry workers remained on duty for two hours to watch for further outbreaks. Because of the fire, the Loburn senior Rugby team had to default its match in the North Canterbury competition as several of its players were amohg the firefighters. Outbreak at Fernside The fire at Fernside, on Mr C. Broughton’s property was brought under control by the Rangiora Fire Brigade and the Rangiora County Council’s tender. Fanned by the north-west wind, the flames raced through a carpet of pine needles for 250 yards to the Ashley river bed where they spread to scrub and rough growth. Apart from scorcing to the lower branches of the trees in the plantation where the fire started little damage was done. The alarm was given at 2.45 p.m. and the brigade members remained on duty to nearly 5 p.m. A second tender from the Rangiora brigade attended a fire in a gorse hedge near the Southbrook school on Saturday. The fire is believed to have been started by children playing with matches. Residents had put the fire out by the lime the brigade arrived.

On Saturday morning, about 300 to 400 acres of scrub in the Waikuku-Woodend district between the Main North road and the coast was burnt in a fire, believed to have started from the burning-off of gorse. Yesterday afternoon, a fire at Fernside started by children playing with crackers in pine needles under a belt of trees, was brought until control before any serious damage was caused.