GRASS FIRES IN NAPIER

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 35, 25 January 1932, Page 9

GRASS FIRES IN NAPIER

HOUSES ENDANGERED. FENCES AND SHED DESTROYED. Another grass fire in Napier on Saturday afternoon swept across several acres of the hillside in the vicinity of Simla Terrace, Delhi road, and Havelock road, endangering several houses and destroying several fences and a shed. Soon after tho fire had commenced a strong westerly wind sprang up and soon the flames were covering a considerable area. The dry grass on the side of the hill allowed tho flames to spread quickly, and within a short time both sides of the gully in the vicinity of Griffin’s yards were blazing. The blaze went through the ruins of Mr C. O. Morse’s house and also a quantity of bluegum logs which were lying on the ground near there, while several houses in Havelock road had a close call, one of them catching alight under the verandah and another in the eaves. The only very material damage was to a number of boundary fences and an old iron shed containing a quantity of rubbish. Both the Napier Fire Brigade and the Port Ahuriri Brigade attended the outbreak, which took place about 2.30 o’clock, and it was due to their efforts that the houses which were endangered escaped so lightly. The members of tho brigade desire to express their thanks to tho residents in tho vicinity of the outbreak who provided refreshments during the strenuous five hours that they had in extinguishing the flames. Saturday’s outbreak is the twentysecond grass or rubbish fire that the Napier Brigade has been called out to attend to this summer.