BIG GRASS FIRE

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 11837, 19 January 1933, Page 2

BIG GRASS FIRE

DAMAGE IN MID-CANTERBURY

STOCK WILL SUFFER FROM

FEED SHORTAGE

(Pres* Association.*. CHRISTCHURCH. Jan. 18

Over -L2OOO worth of damage was done by a fire which started yesterdav morning on the railway line between Bankside and Rakaia. It spread out on a two-mile front and travelled swiftly over about 10 miles of country parched by the recent dry weather.

The fire was fought by about 700 men for nearly 12 horn's. It , was stopped by a wide area ploughed for cropping. Hundreds of acres of grass which may not recover before the winter, about 50‘ acres of 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 on© 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- burning off of grass was in progress,; Tlie flames g°t out of control. Officers of ; the Railway Departinerit- were'- making inquiries today as to - tfie extent of'the damage.