Air Fire Patrol Out On First Call In Rotorua Conservancy

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 3, 2 December 1947, Page 5

Air Fire Patrol Out On First Call In Rotorua Conservancy

An aircraft of the State Forest Service fire patrol, based at Rotorua, was used to report on an outbreak in heavy scrub near the holdings of Forest Products Ltd., in the Waipapa-Ngaroma area last week. Although the planes at Rotorua have made a number of patrols over the whole of the Rotorua conservancy since the fire season opened, this was the first occasion this year that they have been actually called upon. Sweeping over 60 acres, the outbreak, which started early on Saturday afternoon, appeared likely to threaten a large portion of Forest Products Ltd’s, plantation. Located about six miles south-west of the junction of the Waipapa Stream and Waikato River, it had gained a firm hold when a look-out spotter reported smoke. As the country is very inaccessible by land—the only road is a bulldozer track—it was decided to call on the forest patrol, and a Tiger Moth left Rotorua about 5.20 p.m. returning about an hour later. By means of the radio-communication system with which the planes are fitted, constant contact with State Forest headquarters at Kaingaroa was maintained, and a detailed report given. When it was clear that no damage could be done by the fire, it was left to burn itself out during the night.