FIGHTING BUSH FIRES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19214, 31 December 1925, Page 8

FIGHTING BUSH FIRES.

BUILDINGS ENDANGERED. THE SITUATION NOW EASIER. STRENUOUS TIME FOR SETTLERS. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] NAPIER. Wednesday. Although there has been much anxiety among the farmers and sawmill owners in the Puketiriri district owing to the threatened spread of bush fires in that locality the situation is easier. A light fall of rain yesterday had the effect of checking the fires, and as that portion of the district is not so dry as other parts of the province it is believed there is little danger of further spreading. The weather, however, remains hot and sultry, and there must necessarily be a good deal of uneasiness pending a more copious rainfall. On Christmas Eve the settlers and. mill hands went through a strenuous time defending the hall, school, and McLeod and Gardiner's mill from the fire, which was being blown directly on to the village by a strong southerly. During the afternoon a pump operated by manual labour was kept going, and water was played on the walls of the hall, while bucket brigade arrangements to protect the school were in readiness. The following day the wind shifted arid blew the fire toward Rocky Hill and Holt's bush, but at night a fresh westerly again sprang up, the mill being once more endangered. Throughout the following days the light and changing winds incessantly threatened trouble, and constant watchfulness was necessary, help being summoned, when wanted, by blasts of the mill whistle. _ Things were, fairly quiet until Sunday, when in the afternoon an easterly breeze carried the fire still further toward Brown lies' at Rocky Hill, and into an area where much fern and rotten timber furnish ready fuel. During the evening sparks blown across the roid started several more fires and set the bush alight on the section known as Fox's. The damage, fortunately, is not. very severe. Fences have been burned and sheep have had to be shifted, while at McLeod and Gardiner's a few feet of tramline and scantlings were burned.