Ohai Threatened By Mile-Wide Fire

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30267, 21 October 1963, Page 14

Ohai Threatened By Mile-Wide Fire

(New Zealand Press Association) INVERCARGILL, October 20. Fifty men battled for nearly 12 hours on Saturday to subdue a scrub fire which raged through' 1000 acres near Ohai. The fire threatened the township until mid-afternoon when a northerly gale turned it away.

The fire, which began at the east end of the township, travelled for about two miles down a valley and waa a mile mide at one stage. Volunteer firemen from Ohai and Nightcaps, with Forest Service employees from Otautau and Tuatapere. and Wallace County Council staff fought the fire with About 50,000 gallons of water had to be carted by tankers from Ohai. The fire broke out at about 11.45 a.m., but the alarm was not given until 2.45 p.m. "Die fire was not put out until early this morning. Forest Service employees were still patrolling the area tonight. The fire is believed to have been started by boys playing with matches.

Two houses on the road between Ohai and Nightcaps were threatened by fire. The occupants of one house were forced to leave when the fire spread around it. The houses were saved when the wind changed. Although the wind saved the two houses and, possibly, the township, it meant more work for the men fighting the fire, when wind-borne sparks started new fires. A high-tension power line which crossed the area of the fire was not damaged.

House Burgled.— Burglars stole £4O from a house in Peterborough street on Wednesday night. Entry was gained through an unlocked back door. About £2O worth of clothing was stolen from a menswear shop on the comer of Colombo and Peterborough streets on the tame night.