PEAT AND SCRUB FIRES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22005, 11 January 1935, Page 10

PEAT AND SCRUB FIRES

OUTBREAKS IN THE WAIKATO STILL BURNING STEADILY [from our own correspondent] HAMILTON, Thursday • Without the checking effect of rain, peat, scrub and grass fires are continuing to burn steadily throughout the Waikato district. The large fire in the swamp area at Ilukuhia, south of Hamilton, which has been burning for over a fortnight, is still giving off large volumes of smoke, while smaller fires can be seen in all parts of the country surrounding Hamilton. Each morning and evening a dens* white pall hangs over the town and river, limiting visibility at times to a few hundred yards, and when the wind is blowing from the direction of any of the larger fires, an acrid odour is discernible throughout the day. There have been one or two instances of fences and electric-power poles being damaged and some farmers have lost areas of pasture through grass fires. Generally, little damage has been done, however, as the large outbreaks are mostly in swampy or almost valueless' land. The position with regard to the Gordonton-Motumaoho Eoad and other highways which were endangered in places by peat fires, which threatened to burn beneath the roads, is now well in hand, and little further difficulty is expected.

WATERFRONT ROAD AREA POHUTUKAWAS ESCAPE Clouds of smoke from a scrub fire on the waterfront road, near the Orakei golf course, were visible from the city yesterday afternoon. The fire did not cause any notable damage. It consumed an area of gorse and other scrub on the cliff between the course and the waterfront road. Several pohutukawa trees were in danger of destruction, but they suffered nothing more than a scorching. It is thought the fire was caused by a cigarette thrown by a passing motorist. Some distance from this fire, by the side of the road, there was a grass fire on the golf course. Officials of the Orakei Golf Club had burned off an area of "rough" near the 18th hole.