BUSH FIRES

Evening Star, Issue 21642, 10 February 1934, Page 13

BUSH FIRES

RAGING IN VICTORIA BEECH FOREST THREATENED Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. MELBOURNE, February 9.. Terrific bush fires are raging in various parts of the State, particularly in a beech forest in the west, where dozens of outbreaks are endangering mills and houses. Every available man is out fighting the. flames. A heat wave is again being experienced in Victoria and South Australia, the temperature in Melbourne being 107 and in Adelaide 109 degrees. FAMILY TAKE REFUGE IN POND. MELBOURNE, February 10. (Received February 10, at 11.30 a.m.) Mr Clarke’s residence in Fern Tree Gully was surrounded by fire, but Mrs Clarke and two children escaped by taking refuge in a pond with only their faces showing. A maid, who was sent to bring »the hoy from _ school, was trapped, but both were uninjured. The house escaped, though the stables nearby were destroyed. The township of Timboon is in some danger of being wiped out. The Government plantations at the Grampians, which covered several hundred acres and cost thousands of pounds, were destroyed. OUTBREAKS IH TASMAHIA SEVERE DAMAGE REPORTED. HOBART, February 10. (Received February 10, at 11.30 a.m.) The temperature yesterday reached 99.1, the highest since 1928. Fires in the Upper Derwent Valley wiped out three factories and two large fruitpulping establishments. Several private houses were also burned and the electric light supply interrupted. A one-legged farmer near New Norfolk, with his wife and six children, were rescued with difficulty. Several houses in this district were burned. Hundreds of men are engaged >n fire fighting, and are suffering from heat and smoke. No estimate of the damage is yet possible.