VALUABLE TIMBER DESTROYED

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14068, 15 February 1939, Page 5

VALUABLE TIMBER DESTROYED

FIRE IN STOKES VALLEY STARTED ON MAIN kUTT ROAD. Electric Telegraph—Press Association WELLINGTON, Last Night. A fire swept threugh several hundred acres in Stckes Valley to-night destroying a quantity of valuable timber and hundreds of pounds’ worth of fencing. The dames came within a hundred yards of a house occupiea by Mrs Page but were diverted by firelighters. The outbreak started on the main Kutt Road in the Taita Gorge late this afternoon and was still blazing late to-night. Sweeping from the Hutt Road across a hill into the valley the names made a spectacular sight. A party of 20 to 30 men fought the blaze throughout the night. About ten o’clock there were two explosions when the lire reached a quantity of gelignite and detonators stored in a shed. Telephone communication with Stokes valley was cut off soon after the fire started and it is still unrestored. Some cattle and sheep are believed to have perished. A strong wind carried cinders and sparks long distances from the flames causing concern to anxious householders who prepared to remove their possessions to a safer place in case the fire spread.