Canterbury swelters

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33145, 8 February 1973, Page 1

Canterbury swelters

Canterbury and Marlborough were the hottest parts of New Zealand yesterday, but temperatures of more than 40 degrees (104 degrees Fahrenheit) were recorded in most centres. Officially, the hottest place of all was the little township of Jordan, 40 miles south-west of Blenheim, in the Awatere Valley, where the mid-day temperature was 42.3 degrees (108.14 F.), four degrees higher than the previous New Zealand record. Christchurch poultry farmers lost thousands of birds in the heat, fire services throughout both provinces were stretched to the limit, men walked off the job at three freezing works and a glassworks near Christchurch in protest against the high temperatures in which they were working, and many Canterbury secondary schools gave their pupils the afternoon Off. ’ Losses of 26,000 birds were reported by 12 poultry farmers last evening, and this number is expected to rise with the addition of many birds apparently fatally crippled by the heat. Some producers saved stock by hosing down, but others lost more than two-thirds of their flocks, and are considering giving up their farms. The Christchurch representative of the egg producers on the Poultry Board (Mrs K. Fraemohs) said that she had feared the losses would be much heavier. There were 200 farmers in the district. The farmers were immediately faced with the massive task of disposal, Mrs Fraemohs said. The Waimairi County Council had agreed to allow the farmers in its district to bury their birds at the Sawyers Arms Road dump this morning. Highest marks Birds worth more than $14,000 were lost in about two hours by a New Brighton farmer, Mr M. McMillan, with no possible insurance claim; and a Bromley man, Mr J. E. Hopkins, who lost 2000 of his original 6000 birds, said that many more would not last the night. Mr W. A. Williams, of North Beach, who suffered losses amounting to more than $lB,OOO, said: "It is barely worth carrying on.” The poultry division of General Foods, Ltd, hired a mobile air-conditioning unit to prevent nearly-mature chickens from suffocating in the heat. Last Saturday about 6000 birds died from the heat on a number of farms on contract to the company, but because of the steps taken yesterday, the losses were smaller. Canterbury’s highest temperature was in the Balmoral Forest, where at 3 p.m. it was 42.2 degrees. In Christchurch the maximum was 41.7 degrees (107.06) in the Botanic Gardens at 2.15 p.m.;

at Rangiora it reached 42 degrees; at Ashburton it was 41.3 degrees; and at Levels Airport, Timaru, 40 degrees. Along the east coast of the South Island, however, temperatures dropped suddenly with the arrival of a southely front during the afternoon. It arrived at Christchurch, at 2.45 p.m., with wind gusts of up to 50 knots: the temperature dropped 20 degrees in 15 minutes.

The Christchurch Fire Brigade had 49 fire calls in the 12 hours from 8 a.m., a great many of them to grass and scrub fires, the largest being the Clifton Hill, Redcliffs, blaze, which destroyed five houses.

So busy were the engines that there was no time to refuel, and petrol-tankers had to be taken to the scene of the Redcliffs fire to service the fire-engines while they pumped. At no time after 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. did the brigade have fewer than eight fires to attend at one time.

Several automatic fire alarms went off once the temperature reached 37 degrees. Work walk-outs

Another huge blaze was in Ashley Forest, to which all available engines from Rangiora, Ashley, Eyrewell, and Omihi were sent. A 500-acre stand of young Corsican pine was swept by fire, young Corsican pine. Forest workers throughout Canterbury have been put on the alert in case of further fire outbreaks. The Eyrewell and Omihi forests have been the worst affected by the dry weather, and the fire risk in both is classified in the “maximum risk reaching the extremely dangerous” category. There is a total ban on burning anything in the open in all the rural areas of Canterbury. Fire brigades in Timaru and the surrounding townships were also extremely busy, answering calls from the early morning, manv of them to gorse and grass fires. Because of the heat, about 1200 men walked off the job at the two Belfast freezing works run by the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company. About the same time, 10 a.m., killing also stopped at the New Zealand Refrigerating Company’s works. The walk-outs left stock in the yards at each of the works. Local officials of the New Zealand Meat Workers’ Union were not in Christchurch to comment on the walk-out: they are attending the national conference of the union in Palmerston North.

Several employees at the Crown Crystal Glass plant at Hornby also stopped work during the day. “Temperatures proved unbearable in the studio, sorting, and ‘hot end’ areas of the plant, and both male and female workers found it too hot to continue,” one employee said, adding that she believed it was the first time in 25 years that work had ceased because [of excessive heat. Schools closed Many State secondary i schools throughout Canterbury closed at noon, and at 1 many others all formal teaching was abandoned in favour of outside work under trees

or in sheltered positions. No primary schools in the Canterbury Education Board’s district closed early, however, because of the difficulty envisaged in allowing young children to return home when parents had not been informed. Hospital cases Some elderly persons were treated for heat exhaustion at the casualty department of Christchurch Hospital, but none were admitted. Many Post Office workers finished work early because of the heat. The Chief Postmaster in Christchurch (Mr M. T. Reedy) reduced his staff to a bare minimum in the afternoon, and any employees not directly servicing the public or maintaining the essential services were allowed to go home. Members of the staffs of many city firms seemed to “melt away’’ during the afternoon, and telephone calls frequently indicated that only the telephonists remained. Railway tracks buckled in the heat in various parts of' the province, but only minor! delays to goods trains were caused. The lines affected were between Christchurch and Rangiora, Rakaia and Timaru, Claverley and Hundalee, and Domett and Ethelton. Repair gangs were on the scene immediately in most areas, and by 4 p.m. the drop in temperatures brought relief to them. Off the gauge Temperatures in Christchurch were so high that the gauge on the Government Life Building ran out of figures. When the gauge was changed over to the Celsius scale, more equipment would have been needed to enable it to register more than 39 degrees. As 39 degrees was more than the record temperature in New Zealand at that time, it was decided that it would not be worth fitting the extra equipment.

As a result, the gauge; “blew its cool” when the I temperature reached 40 degrees, and showed a wild! assortment of figures until; finally settling on a curiouslyshaped 90. The metal pipe running! rail at Riccarton racecourse i buckled in the intense heat and caused some complicaItions. At the mile and a half start in front of the grandstand the rail is hinged to| allow the starting gates to i be towed from the course. At[ this point there is an expansion joint to allow for movement on hot days, but the! gap disappeared yesterday i and the pipe had to be cut j with a hacksaw to allow the; running of the Benson and: Hedges inter-island race. Animals suffer The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Ani-I mals had several complaints about pets left without shelter or water. One woman telephoned because she wanted to stop the horse racing at Riccarton. The society’s inspector (Mr H. J. Hammett) attended three dogs suffering from ■ heat exhaustion by cooling them with water and a wet i towel. One of the dogs was

found locked inside a car in the central city.

The unusual amount of direct sunshine and the high temperatures also affected local fruit crops, and some Christchurch orchardists may face losses. Fruit—in particular, some varieties of apples are subject to scorching, in which case it is rejected because it does not keep very long. The extent of possible damage will not be known for a few days. Hotels busy The Christchurch City Council’s main pumping station in Colombo Street had little trouble in coping with the steady demand for water throughout the day. By 5 p.m. about 19 million gallons had been pumped since midnight. The 24-hour record is about 30 million gallons. Hotels reported excellent business, and a considerable demand for ice-cold bottled beer, and for drinks with “lots of ice.”

Many hotels, and especially those with counter-lunches were filled to overflowing.

Pook crowded

The crowds at Christchurcn’s swimming pools were more like those of a holiday week-end. There were more than 4000 swimmers at Jellie Park, about 2000 at Sockburn Park, and almost 5000 at the Waltham Park lido pool. I The Hal swell pool opened half an hour early because of the queues, and had a record attendance for this summer of between 1800 and 2000. Christchurch beaches, too, were packed by lunch-time. Most were free from incident, although at Taylor's Mistake a dangerous rip developed near a hole west of the clubhouse.

A girl aged 18 and a man aged 23 were rescued from the surf, which was 3ft to 4ft and dumping. Twelve children between the ages of 10 and 15 were also helped ashore when they got into difficulties.

Two persons were also res cued at Sumner.

Military bar>eft

The heat affected the routine at various military establishments in and around Christchurch. The United States Nvay base at Harewood and the Royal New Zealand Air Force base at Wigram virtually closed, apart from maintaining essential services. The handful of men at H.M.N.Z.S. Pegaus maintained a stiff upper lip and stood ready for anything, while for men at Burnham Military Camp it was a routine day [of soldiering.

Down in the Antarctic, the weather was pleasant enough, with a temperature of 12 deg F. at McMurdo Station and minus 28 deg F. at the 'Amundsen-Scott South Pole ■ Station. This meant there was i something like a 130 degree idifference between conditions iin Christchurch and at the I South Pole yesterday.