SERIOUS PLIGHT

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 43, 18 January 1935, Page 7

SERIOUS PLIGHT

WAIKATO PEAT FIRES. COST OF DAMAGE MOUNTING. Per Press Association. HAMILTON, Jan. 18. Approximately 10,000 acres of pasture land in the Waikato have been desolated by encroaching peat fires. A further serious outbreak yesterday brings the estimated damage to the figure of approximately ±lio,ooo. In audition to the thousands of acies under fire at Te Hoe and Netv stead tnere were fresh outbreaks at Eureka and Te Kapa yesterday. farmers in tlie iiGst and ardour or what is practically a No Man’s Land are fighting a seemingly losing battle against the flames. 'the whole countryside seems to be ablaze at Eureka. On the property of Mr E. J. Williams, 34 acres out of a total of 111 have been transformed from fertility into a wilderness of white ash interspersed with huge treacherous craters. Mr Williams has ploughed a ditch around the fire and filled it with water. If this is unsuccessful in checking tlie fire the pioneering work of 24 years will be for naught. Similar experiences have been the unenviable part for other settlers. It is estimated that more than 3000 acres have been destroyed in this block up to the present only. One dwelling has been destroyed—the cottage of Mr E. L. Burr, a sharemilker, at Newstead. It was reduced to a pile of ashes in less than half an hour. An onerous task is that of a settler, Mr E. Scott, who watches all day to see that the flames do not spread to the adjoining rich pasture on his property. This is tinder dry and only a spark is needed to set up an enormous conflagration which would wipe out dozens of farms and dwellings throughout the rich Eureka district. Yesterday the fire spread on to the fertile farm of the Bryant House trustees at Te Rapa and speedily it encroached and came within a few yards of the aerodrome. As a precaution two Gipsy Moth ’planes, owned by the Waikato branch of the Auckland Aero Club, were moved to another aerodrome some miles away. Nearly forty men under Mr D. V. Bryant, founder of the Land Settlement Society and immigration scheme, fought hour after hour against the spread of the flames. Trenches -were dug and trucks sent out from Hamilton laden with water. In addition, the Borough Council’s water truck, with a capacity of 1000 gallons, was engaged late at night and the progress of the fire was arrested. Thirty acres were damaged. This morning a thick fog, accentuated by smoke from the fires raging round the town, made for unpleasant conditions in Hamilton, visibility being limited to a few yards and considerably hindering traffic.