HUGE AREA NOW ABLAZE

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 94, 14 January 1939, Page 9

HUGE AREA NOW ABLAZE

Victorian Bush Fires Out Of Control

MANY TOWNSHIPS EVACUATED

Panic-Stricken Refugees Pour Into Melbourne

By Teleeraph. —Press Assn.—Cooyrisht (Received January 13, 11.55 p.m.) MELBOURNE, January 13.

Fanned by a fierce north wind which sprang up today, the bush fires are now raging beyond control throughout the forest areas of Victoria. An area 300 miles square is ablaze, and many large townships have been evacuated, hundreds of people seeking refuge in rivers and creeks.

The city, temperature reached an all-time record of 114 degrees today, and up to 120 degrees were recorded in country districts. The fires are now within 15 miles of Melbourne, and the town of Warrandyte, comprising- 150 buildings, was completely wiped out. The whole population is sheltering in the River Yarra. All the hill resorts at Warburton, Healesville, Ferntree Gully, Sassafras and Belgrave are blazing and may suffer the same fate as Warrandyte. Lome, a favourite seaside resort 80 miles east of Melbourne, is also in danger. Little news is available from mill towns in the centre of the burning area, but it is feared that Noojee, Powelltown, Walhalla and Erica are doomed. When the wind rose early this morning it was realized that nothing could be done to resist the advance of the flames, and preparations were immediately made to evacuate the threatened settlements. Truck loads of refugees were brought at all speed to safety points. Train Requisitioned. A goods train from Noojee was requisitioned to remove the entire population. Some 250 families were removed from Warburton, one of .Melbourne’s most popular hill resorts, 48 miles from the city. All the roads to the hills are now blocked by fires and communications are down. There is little knowledge of what has happend there, but, because of the early plans for evacuation, it is believed that no lives are in danger. Only one man is known to be dead, though several parties are not accounted for. Shocking devastation hag been wrought over a vast area, thousands of square miles of forest being utterly destroyed. Damage to property cannot yet be estimated. The disaster is the greatest in Victoria’s long history of bushfire tragedies, but it is impossible yet to gain an idea of the full extent of the loss. Panic-stricken refugees are swarming into the city, where residents are accepting them in their homes. Money is still pouring in for the relief fund, and the “Argus’’ list now totals £lB,OOO. 51 DEATHS IN THREE DAYS Searing Heat Continues (Received January 13, 11.55 p.m.) SYDNEY, January 13. Ten more deaths attributed to the heat wave were reported from New South Wales country towns today, which, with 34 reported yesterday, makes a total of 51 in three days. Fierce heat is reported from Wilcannia, where five deaths have occurred since Monday, the thermometer averaging 114 degrees for 10 days. The hospital staffs of western towns are working overtime and the majority of country hospitals are unable to take more patients. “We have never known anything like it,” declared the hospital doctor of a western centre, referring to the prolonged and intense heat.

Yesterday, a 12-months-old baby who was suffering from the effects of the heat was flown from Leeton, where the temperature was 117 degrees, to Sydney at an altitude of ll.OOOft. in an effort to save its life. The baby’s condition improved in the cooler atmosphere of the upper air.

At Adelaide intense heat continues the temperature in the city yesterday reaching 117.7 degrees, a new high record.