High Fire Hazard In Forests

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30366, 15 February 1964, Page 12

High Fire Hazard In Forests

In Canterbury’s forest and rural areas the fire hazard is high at the present time and there are no prospects of immediate relief m the long-range weather forecasts, said the senior ranger of the Forest Service in Christchurch (Mr T. E. C. Bridge) yesterday

Mr Bridge said that there had been little or’ no rain in most of Canterbury for the last three weeks, and that extreme care was needed to avoid fires until the danger was over. Long-range forecasts for this week-end predicted high temperatures, he said.

Thene has been no rain in Christchurch since February 6, when the fall was only .Olin. However, the Weather Office does not give the present conditions the status of “drought.” A drought is at least 15 consecutive, days without rain, according to a spokesman for the office. The present conditions, however, merit the title of “partial drought”—a period of 29 consecutive days when the average daily rainfall is not more than .Olin. Farmers, and in particular dairy farmers, were also becoming increasingly concerned about the situation, said an officer of the Department of Agriculture yesterday. Dairy farmers without irrigation and those thinking about winter feed crops would be most affected. The pastures have burned up badly in many areas since the dry spell started in January, and the conditions for sowing new grass are not good at the present time. Potato crops in Canterbury have also shown the effects of dry soil, and have been drying off. The Christchurch City Council’s parks and reserves department is not as concerned, confident in the city’s good water supply. The department’s assistant director, Mr G. G. Henderson, said yesterday that the attractive

floral displays in the parks could be shortened by the weather, but that water was adequate to cope with any difficulties presented by the dry spells, which are expected either at the beginning or end of the summer.