FOXTON GRASS FIRES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 65, 13 February 1935, Page 9

FOXTON GRASS FIRES

HOMES IN DANGER. CAUSE ATTRIBUTED TO ENGINE SPARKS. The fact that residents along the Foxton railway line, particularly in the Himatangi and Foxton areas, were afraid to leave their homes during the day on account of the danger of grass fires from sparks from the engine on the Foxton train was stated to the Manawatu County Council yesterday by the chairman (Cr. W. E. Barber), who said that hundreds of acres or grass land and plantations along the Foxton Road had already been burnt out and houses threatened by fire. The speaker took a serious view of the matter and felt he would like to congratulate the manager of the Sanson tramway (Mr A. K. Drew) on the fact that the tram engine had not been responsible for any of the fires in the county.

The chairman went on to relate instances of recent fires to the council, stating that on various occasions some 25 fires had broken out between Foxton and Longburn after the train had passed. The fires had imperilled homes as well as burning grass land, fences and trees, and the continuation of the dry spell warranted urgent attention to the matter by the railway authorities. On one recent Saturday a strong north-east wind had blown the sparks from the engine right over the bituminous road into a plantation of young trees on the Foxton Road and all of them had been destroyed. On the following Friday, when travelling home from Feilding, he had found that another fire had swept an adjoining plantation and the fire had passed on right down to the lakes. The situation was such, the chairman concluded, that all the settlers in the area were in fear of being burnt out. Cr. J. H. Perrett observed that it was strange the Railway Department appeared to be making no effort to combat the spark menace. The chairman thought the time had arrived when the department should be prevailed upon to use special coal to protect the countryside. He understood that all the trouble arose from the kind of coal that was being burnt in the engines. Cr. D. W. Rpid said he could not understand why the Government had not insisted on the use of special spark arresters in the engines. He was sorry to see that young plantations had been destroyed, and recalled that the same thing had occurred on his father’s property at Makino. Cr. Perrett urged that the use of better coal be brought before the Railway Department, at least for the period' of the present dry spell. Recalling the destruction of a house on the outskirts of Foxton borough by fire on Monday, the chairman said this outbreak had been attributed to a spark from an engine. Three grass fires had occurred near this residence previously and all of them were said to have been caused by the railway engine ; the railway line passed nearby. Cr. J. Boyce said tlia-t in all his 40 years’ residence in the Manawatu he iiad never known the countryside to be so dry and inflammable. If a fire got into it the whole countryside would be swept and settlers were now afraid to leave their homes and were keeping a constant watch owing to the existing danger to life and home. He recalled instances of the speed, at which grass fires travelled in Queensland, and said he would sooner see the I oxton tram stopped altogether than the risk the farmers were facing from it continue. He thought the situation warranted a telegram being sent at once to the Minister of Railways. The chairman agreed with the last speaker, stating that the suffering of the stock through the fires, coupled with the danger to homes and property, called for immediate action. The county clerk (Mr A. D. Drew) said the cause of the flying sparks from the engines arose from the use of lignite coal. The county used bituminous ooal in its engine and when this was fed into the furnace it formed a clinker, while the lignite coal immediately burst into fragments when subjected to heat. He added that the tramway employees had strict ordeis to keen a look-out and to immediately stop the tram and attend to any fire they saw. That there was a danger from the travelling public, particularly motorists, was the opinion of Cr. Boyce. The grass, being in a highly inflammable state, would ignite at the least cause, and dropped cigarette butts should be guarded, against. Tho chairman remarked that the county employees were aware of the seriousness of the situation and knew what steps to take in the event of a fire. It was unanimously agreed to forward a telegram to the Minister of Railways asking him to take steps to have the spark menace abated.