PRELIMINARY FIRE LOSS SURVEY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21963, 6 March 1946, Page 4

PRELIMINARY FIRE LOSS SURVEY

GISBORNE-COAST

RELIEF JPROJECT LIMITED RESOURCES COMMITTEE'S INQUIRY Preliminary Fire Loss Survey Though details of losses on some properties are not yet available, it is estimated that approximately 24,000 acres of grass and rough feed has been lost in three areas of the Gisborne - East Coast district owing to the log, scrub and grass fires which raged last month. Most damaging of the three main outbreaks was that which swung around the flanks of Arowhana for nearly a fortnight, sometimes coming almost to a halt and then finding fresh stimulus in a change of wind. This fire accounted for 13,000 acres or more of country, much of it, however, in birch forest areas where re-seeding and re-fencing may not be undertaken immediately. The relief organisation set up bv the Government to deal with drought and fire damage will not be concerned with the losses of Crown tenants and those who have other sources of financial aid. For this reason the survey of fire loss has not been carried to the full extent, and the acreage of grass lost on many properties is computed from reports of the sufferers or from neighbours. The relief organisation is headed by Mr. V. P. Boot, agricultural instructor, with whom will be associated a representative of the Merchants’ Association in Gisborne and a nominee of the Poverty Bay Primary Production Council. The tribunal will deal with all claims arising out of the recent fires which are not being attended to by other agencies: the form of relief granted in any case will be finance to cover replacement of feed - and other costs arising out of the fire damage. Crown Agencies’ Liability Those farmers who are Crown tenants or who have financed their operations through the State Advances Corporation will seek their necessary assistance from the Lands Department or the corporation, as the case may be, and agencies such as the Native Department and the East Coast Commissioner will deal with fire-damage arising in connection with properties under their respective charges. Not many of the farms damaged by the February fires fall into the separate category which is the particular charge of the relief committee in Gisborne, but the committee will accept applications from all sufferers who have no other sources of aid, including the victims of isolated fires which can be proved to be accidental.

A survey of surplus fodder available in other parts of the Dominion reveals that when spread over the whole of the North Island areas affected by the fires, the surplus will not go far. An endeavour will be made to secure help for all those who have been occasioned loss through drought and fire, but it will be understood that the actual amount of fodder to be distributed is limited. Vagaries of the Fires The vagaries of the fires have become more-clearly apparent since the damp-ing-down of Ihe affected areas over the week-end. It is found that in many instances a property was barely touched by the blaze, before a change of wind carried the flames in another direction. Neighbouring properties, on the other hand, had the fire driven over them two or three times at the will of the wind. Fences which appear, on a first glance over the country, to have disappeared entirely turn out lo have been damaged, sometimes extensively, but not destroyed. Though the fencing losses have been heavy, there is a lot of salvasable material left in the wake of the flames. Patch-burning has occurred on many properties, large areas of pasture in which logs were lying having fared worse than those better cleared of logs by previous fires. Thus it is found that

where the original estimate of grass loss was, say, 2000 acres, the actual loss turns out to be only a few hundred acres. Two Farms Wholly Swept On other properties, however, the loss of grass is almost complete, as in the case of Mr. L. Honey’s place in the Te Araroa-Hicks Bay fire area, and also of Mr. Frank Fitzgerald’s Wairangi property in the Whatatutu district, where stock losses occurred as well “as pasture destruction. It is estimated that in the Te AraroaHicks Bay area, some 7500 acres of grasslands, some of it infested with scrub, was lost. Those whose properties suffered included Messrs. Saxby Bros., A. F. Hindmarsh, E. B. Hungston, C. G. Downey. J. M. Downey, L. Honey, W. Grc-ig, P. Ngata, C. M. Williamson and F. Thomas. In the case of Mr. Honey’s land, about 350 acres will have to be completely re-sown, but most of the other properties escaped with patchy burns, though one large property lost 700 acres of grass in all, and others’ losses were comparable. Wairongomai and Arowhana The Wairongomai Valley fire affected, in the main, lands farmed by the Native Department on behalf of beneficiaries in the Wairongomai blocks, and it is believed that these blocks lost from 2000 to 2500 acres of feed, much of it from third-class pastures. Mr. R. Fordj a neighbouring settler, saw 350 acres of his grass go up in smoke, with a fair amount of bush, and Mr. T. Maki, a Maori farmer back of Wairongomai, is reported to have lost 150 acres in patchy burns. The Arowhana-Huiarua area has been the worst hit in respect of acreage, and also in respect of stock damage. The Huiarua station is computed to have lost between 7500 and 8000 acres of high-country grass and bush, and Arowhana station’s burn ranges up to 2000 acres, while on Mr. Fitzgerald’s Wairangi station over 1500 acres went up in flames, including a large area of standing bush which was completely burned out. Mangaotane lost another 1500 acres, much of this also in bush. Mr. Mclntyre’s Puketahora property escaped fairly lightly, with only 250 acres affected, and no stock lost. It is questionable whether a considerable area of land lying on the higher birch levels will be worth re-seeding at present costs. Owners or lessees of properties which lost pasturage are concentrating on getting seed on to the lower levels in the meantime, and in finding alternative pasturage for their stock.