BUSH FIRE DISASTER

Grey River Argus, 18 February 1944, Page 2

BUSH FIRE DISASTER

VAST DAMAGE IN VICTORIA. YALLOURN COAL STILL ABLAZE. MELBOURNE, Feb. 17. , Last night, at least half the face of the Yallourn open cut brown coal mine was still on fire. Although ‘the area of the fire has been reduced it is still burning over a distance of several hundred yards and to a depth of 200 feet. Even with favourable weather, it will be several days before the fire is put out. With Yallourn, the greatest _ supplies of electric power in Victoria still out of action, more drastic cuts in supplies have been announced. The use of power for industry and household purposes will be reduced 50 per cent, instead of 40 per cent, announced yesterday. In Government munitions factories alone, 11,000 . operatives are idle. The Victotian Government has appointed a Royal Commission to investigate the outbreak in the Yallourn mine. Detectives have been assigned to investigate the causes of the fire at the mine and in other Victorian areas. Estimates of the damage and loss from bush fires in Victoria and New South Wales were given at Canberra by the Minister for Agriculture (Mr. Scully?). They were: Victoria, destroyed 500 homes, a million sheep, 50,000 cattle, 1000 horses, 1000 pigs, 200,000 poultry, and thousands of miles of fencing. These figures do not include the considerable damage of the past few days. New South Wales: Destroyed 14,000 sheep, a few other stock, and 200,000 acres, mainly grass land.