WHOLE COUNTRY A SHEET OF FLAME

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 155, 20 March 1918, Page 6

WHOLE COUNTRY A SHEET OF FLAME

PLIGHT OF HOMELESS PEOPLE SOME TOUCHING INCIDENTS. The plight of the sufferers struck one city man vividly. "It was a bitterly cold night," he said, "and the galo was driving with amaz : ng fierceness. "We knew nothing of the true position till we reached Horopito. There the hold-up was effected, and' there we learnt that something far worse than a- big burn, something more than a grand spectacle was occurring. "We wore held up at Horopito because a small viaduct thereabouts had caught fire, and some of the sleepers had been affcctedi 'The-length of our detontion there was eight hours or so, and it was not a very enjoyable experience. On the high level there tho weather is cold, and we could get nothing to eat, except apples. The baker had been burnt out, and what food there was handy was needed for the refugees.

"It is the greatest fire by far that over I saw. The wholo country, not only on one side of the line, but all round is ablaze. Take these hills that bound the view in Wellington. If all were walls of fire surrounding the city, if you can imagine what that would look like, you may get some idea of the spectacle.

"Tho extent of the damage cannot be even guessed at. Moreover, it may be increased yet.

"But Raetihi must be just about all gone, judging by the accounts one hears as having borne from the people who lied froin there this morning.

"Over 300 people from Itaetihi' and district were taken into Oliakuno Junction by special train. It was a sad sight. There were whole families walking round with probably nothing in the world left but the clothes they stood in. Particularly touching was the sight of the women and children.

"These poor people had had a terrible experience. Half suffocated by smoke and more than half blinded, they wero in a dreadful condition. Their every appearance told of the great strain that that dreadful night had been upon them. Sad procession though they were, they' bore up well. ( "One man came in carrying a doll. Wo laughed, but he only nursed it the more tenderly. And the story was quite touching. It was all they had saved, and it was all tho world to a little girl who was all the world to him. It was the family's one save from tho fire, and ho treasured it as. though thoy had saved their all. "Then there came a woman who did not know whether her husband was safe or otherwise. He was out in the bush when the fire ,got up, and now miles of flamo separated them, and each was unaware of the fate of the other. Her anxiety was great.

"These were the sights one met at Ohakune.

"It was a chango in the wind that brought disaster to Itaetihi. First of all the gale, driving in a certain di-

rection, carried the fire past the town, but in the night it altered its course, and—well. Raetihi was doomed. "Tilings were bad in Ohakune that night. The smoke was terrible. Many of the people could endure it no longer. Their homes were endangered, if not doomed, so they spent tho night in the river-bed. I believo ono hundred people put in the whole night that way. They were much relieved when tho rescue train arrived.

"If the wind had not changed as it did, Ohakune would have been burned by now.

"No one can say how the fire started. Nono of the people know for certain, but it is presumed that someono well above Horopito was having a burn whon the gale happened along. "I should say that the fire extends for at least 100 miles along the line and how far back I don't know. It will be days and days before an estimate of tho damage can bo made.

"Apart from tho burning of Raetihi we~fieard of homes at odd places along tlic line having been swept away by K"e fire, mills havo gone, and at least one dairy _ factory. There ore several sawmills in Raetihi alone. One sawm'iller came down on this train, but he does not know the fato of,his mill or his timber property. He guesses it, though. "One little thing I noticed, and, before we were aware of the disaster, did not know the meaning of, was that the houses all along the line from right up north were lit up. Of conrse, we know now that' the people were sitting up in case they had to flee for their lives."