FIRE SWEEPS COUNTRY

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 98, 19 January 1933, Page 7

FIRE SWEEPS COUNTRY

Blaze Fought for Nearly Twelve Hours EXTENSIVE DAMAGE By Telegraph—Press Association. Christchurch, Jan. 18. Damage estimated at over £2OOO was done by a fire which started yesterday morning on the railway line between Bankside and Rakaia. It spread out on a two-mile front and travelled swiftly over about ten miles of country parched by the recent dry weather. The fire was fought by about 700 men for nearly twelve hours, and was stopped by a wide area of land which had been ploughed for cropping. Hundreds of acres of grass, which may not recover before the winter, about 50 acres of a plantation, many acres of wheat, and miles of fences were burnt, the fire leaving a blackened waste over an extensive area. With the exception of a shed on one property, farm buildings escaped. Some farmers will be faced with a difficult problem in finding feed for stock. The fire started on the railway line, where the burnng off of grass was in .progress, and the flames got out of control. Officers of the Railway Department were making inquiries to-day as to the extent of the damage.