VICTORIAN BUSH FIRES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22835, 20 March 1936, Page 10

VICTORIAN BUSH FIRES

HEAVY LOSSES SUFFERED HOUSES ENGULFED IN FLAMES (From Our Own Correspondenti SYDNEY, March 13. Victoria has been suffering severely from bush fires all this week. Hot northerly winds sweeping down from the dry interior have scorched and parched practically the whole State, and the bush fires, the worst for several seasons, have raged in many districts, destroying homes, valuable timber country, and rich pastures. Stock has also been lost and the mortality among wild animals and birds has been heavy. The losses have been particularly severe in the Dandcnong Hills, about 40 miles from Melbourne. Yesterday alone 10 houses were destroyed in the most serious blaze, which occurred near Selby, where volunteers fought the flame 3 all day Wednesday and through the night to Thursday, when they were so exhausted that they could not continue. Throughout Thursday the flames threatened the township of Selby. The flames approached so close to the town that many residents packed their belongings into motor cars, lorries, and even wheelbarrows, in readiness for flight. The fire leaped across a railway line and across the main Selby-Emerald road. Volunteers were summoned from nearby townships and, after a long and hazardous fight, they succeeded in turning the fire. When the fire threatened the home of Mr L. Leveson during the night, the firefighters aroused Mr Leveson and his family by throwing stones on the roof. Mr Leveson, who is a returned soldier with only one leg, and his wife and children, as well as several volunteers, were almost cut off by the flames when the wind changed. They had to run several hundred yards to safety. The same change of wind saved the house. Two other men who had been fighting the flames for three days were trapped by an advancing wall of fire. They ran for nearly 300 yards up a steep hill with the only a few yards behind them, and at the top found safety in a clearing. Around Lpckswood women were forced to flee from hillside homes with only the belongings they could carry. Fire-fighters collapsed under the strain, and fell exhausted on the road side. From the bush, wild animals and fled madly to escape the flames. Fire-fighters trying to save one Lockwood home found themselves surrounded by fire and had to dash to safety through blazing trees. The house was lost in the flames in a few minutes. A few miles away, another home vanished in fire as volunteers rushed away after continuing their efforts until their faces and clothes were scorched. One woman seized what clothing and bed linen she could and placed them in an empty tank, together with a dog and a litter of pups. She ran to safety along a bush track. Returning after the fire had passed, she found her home a mass of smouldering ruins, the tank upturned, and its contents ashes.

Shipping in Port Phillip Bay was delayed by smoke haze from fires on Mornington Peninsula. Some ships were delayed for two and three hours, the thick haze necessitating the use of fog signals. The master of the overseas liner Ulysses, Captain Williams, reported that he had encountered the haze in Bass Strait.