HOMES IN DANGER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27567, 8 December 1950, Page 6

HOMES IN DANGER

Spectacular Blaze In Thick Scrub FANNED BY STRONG WIND Several householders had the fact that they were enthusiastic gardeners to thank for saving their homes yesterday afternoon. Burning rubbish touched off the dense tinder-dry scrub on the face of the old quarry in Caversham Glen in the early afternoon and had there been no firebreaks in the form of vegetable patches to protect the line of wooden homes which stand along Walter street, on the rim of the quarry, it is probable that the houses would have been included in the spectacular blaze. A brisk wind from the south-west spread the fire with surprising rapidity through the scrub and a dense smoke cloud billowed over the hill and drifted down towards the city. Three engines, with Superintendent F. C. Laidlaw, in command, ran out hundreds of feet of hose to cope with the fire, leads being taken from Walter street above the blaze, and from Glen road. It was some time, however, before really' effective pressure could be brought to bear arid the firemen were hindered in their initial efforts to keep the blaze confined. Gusts of wind sent huge sheets of flame crackling through the scrub and for a time it appeared that a fairly dense patch of heavier timber would catch fire. A slight shift in wind, however, took the main blaze along the steep cliff face, which was rapidly swept bare of growth. Householders in Glen road, apprehensive of the manner in which the fire back-tracked with the gusts, were busy hosing the grass near their back fences and damping the woodwork of an isolated fowlhouse set back towards the foot of the cliff. Often working in choking clouds of smoke, the brigadesmen were successful in keeping the fire confined to the scrub. A drifting ember set fire to the verandah of an old wooden house, but prompt action by two brigadesmen averted any major damage. When a good pressure of water was available,' the fire was brought under control, but a host of isolated patches continued to smoulder and the firemen were kept busy for most of the afternoon before there had ceased to be any danger.