FIRE ON HILLCREST

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 13, 3 October 1944, Page 5

FIRE ON HILLCREST

LARGE AREA SWEPT SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES AVERTED The attention of Whakatane residents and those further out on the Plains was attracted on Sunday to a firt; which swepft the whole of the bluff at the' West ern end of Hillcrest. The blaze, which was first' noticed 1 shortly after mid-day was started through a fire in a gorse patch at the bottom of thg hill getting out of control.

Fanned by a fresh wind the flames swept up the. hillside to the peak where a thick growth of gorse and bracken supplied it with ideal fuel. The blaze quickly spread and in no time had jumped the. gully and was raging down towards the Maraetotara Gorge. In a few minutes, the whole point of. the hill was ablaze, and with flames shooting high in the air gave a very realistic appearance of a volcano. In its early stages the fire was not regarded with a very serious eye, but as the wind became stronger and the flames, started to eat a path along the top of the it was foreseen that unless some eiTorts. were made to get it under control the residential area of Hillcrest would become endangered. Accordingly, the alarm vvasi sounded and the Fire Brigade, which had been keeping a watchful eye on the blaze turne out, and with a volunteer party of citizens and scouts, ascended the hill to beat out the flames. By this time the wind had died down to a large extent, and with the flames progressing at a slower pace j the combined efforts of. the beaters soon had them under control. It was not till the. late afternoon however that the fire. •» was properly extinguished. Fortunately there was no standing bush in the path of the out-, break, gorse and second growth supplying most of the. fuel. Although the. fire was put out before any serious damage was done,, the whole of the hillside for an area of up<4 wards of 50 acres was completely swept, leaving only a blackened and charred landscape. The Brigade is to be 1 complimented on the fact that although the out-, break was beyond their normal scope the members turned out in force and successfully combatted it. A word of praise is also due to the citizens and scouts whose efforts, were much appreciated.