INDUSTRY DISRUPTED

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 121, 17 February 1944, Page 6

INDUSTRY DISRUPTED

Fire In Yallourn Mine , MELBOURNE, February 16, Paralysis of most Victorian industries is threatened by the fire in the Yallourn brown coal open-cut mine. This is the source of electric power, for a great part of the State. The fire, which is not yet under control, last night covered an area more than 1000 yards long- and stretched 200 feet down the coal face. The Victorian State Electricity Commission has announced that because of the fire the output from the Yallourn power station, supplying Melbourne ana all the large Victorian towns with power, may be reduced to one-tenth of normal. Drastic cuts in the use of electricity have been ordered. . ' Government munitions factories are able to carry out only limited operations. Train services have been cut by 25 per cent., and domestic consumers have been asked to reduce consumption by 40 per cent.. Hundreds of fire-fighters, including servicemen, are fighting the fire.

World’s Largest. Yallourn is eight miles from. Melbourne. The brown coal deposit'there is the biggest in the world, and is up to 200 feet deep. The open-cut covers 230 acres; and the workings take the form of a series of huge steps round the cut. Wide portions of these steps are now burning, and newgpap'er correspondents report that the whole area is like a huge foundry. The burning section of the cut is a lake of incandescent heat. Important mechanical equipment has been seriously damaged. A public inquiry into the cause of the fire will be held, and police action is expected to be taken against the person or persons responsible. It is stated that the eoal was ignited by sparks from the bush fires.