HEAVY LOSS FOR HOSPITAL BOARD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19271, 7 January 1931, Page 7

HEAVY LOSS FOR HOSPITAL BOARD.

OVER 175 ACRES OF TREES DESTROYED

The plantation fire at Bottle Lake yesterday has resulted in the North Canterbury Hospital Board suffering a heavy financial loss.

Mr W. S. Wharton, secretary of the board, stated to-day. after he had made a thorough inspection of the board's reserves, that fully 175 acres of plantations had been destroyed. The plantations contained trees of varying ages, from three years up to twenty years. With the exception of a few trees on the western side close to where the fire started none escaped the flames. Along Reeves Road all the trees seemed to have been destroyed. Asked the value of the trees damaged and destroyed by the fire, Mr Wharton said that it would amount to between £15,000 and £20,000. It was estimated that a plantation about 35 years old was worth £SOO an acre. O:: that basis the loss suffered by the board was a very substantial one.

Mr Wharton said that the board’s reserves at Bottle Lake aggregated between 190 and 200 acres, and with the exception of the area occupied by the Infectious Diseases Hospital, all were planted in trees. The board employed a caretaker to lock after the plantations, but he was absent on holiday when the fire occurred yesterday. There were, however, several other men working there.