SCRUB VESUVIUS

Evening Star, Issue 22147, 30 September 1935, Page 7

SCRUB VESUVIUS

BIG FIRE ON FLAGSTAFF LARGE AREA SWEPT BY FLAMES PART OF PLANTATION DAMAGED There were times during last night’s big fire on Flagstaff—particularly when the flames were licking up over the saddle on the summit—when . the imagination. did not have to wohk overtime to conjure tup visions of yolcanio craters and their belching brilliance. From all parts of the city and from points far out into the country the ominous reflection, and, in some cases, the flames, were seen, the conflagration providing the greatest spectacle of its kind witnessed here' for many years. Yesterday afternoon motorists and trampers in several windward localities had the erupting volcano illusion made more vivid by the shower of ashes which descended on them like persistent snowflakes. One hiker reports having been well sprinkled with ashes at a distance of three miles. CATCHMENT AREA AFFECTED. One of the first questions which arise is: “What damage did the fire do?”The most serious aspect of the destruction. lies in the fact that a large part of the water department’s catchment area has been denuded of its growth. This trouble is especially acute on the Whare Flat slopes of the hill, up which the fire, fanned by a stiff northerly, swept in three main swathes. Next in order of importance is the unfortunate devouring and scorching of a section of the City Corporation's pin us insignis plantation. ' The stricken area is not more than 25 acres in extent, but the charred remains of the ,young trees, ranging in age from one to five years, presented a sorry, sight this morning. Many .of these trees, which are situated! bn the slope overlooking 'the- Siiverstream race, have uncut native scrub interspersed in certain areas, and, had it not been for the determined fire-fighting of eraployees of the water and reserves departments. the damage would have been much . more extensive. As far as is known, the rest of the destruction was confined to scrub and tussock, and it was the advance of the flames through this type of country, that was so conspicuously seen on the [ summit last night. At least one departmental huts was saved from a fiery, fate just in the nick of • time, but another hut on the site of the old Banitorium ground was razed, WHERE IT STARTED. How the conflagration started is not definitely known, but a general, and perhaps an accurate, inference is that? campers, or picnickers who hacked! ordinary common sense and whoj neglected jo use specially prepared! t places for boiling the billy were the' cause. ■ Although there was a fire of limited scone on Saturday night on the southerly shoulder of Flagstaff, the really destructive blaze did not make, itself manifest until early yesterday afternoon. It started at the back of, Swampy Hill, and in three great tongues swept upwards,: two of these eventually tackling the summit, and' the third roaring through a particuy lariy valuable catchment area and our across tong Ridge road into the' plantation. Some native bush was destroyed at certain points, but luckily the fire made little progress on the town side of Flagstaff. TRAMPING CLUB HELPS. On the southerly (plantation) shoulder, over which the Whare Flat roadruns, a grim battle was put up by workmen numbering about 40, and it is noteworthy that practically all night they were ably assisted by seven members of the Tramping Club and also unattached hikers. 4 At one part of the afternoon motorists found it impossible to negotiate the road. Moreover, it js reported that a local medico who left his family picnicking at an attractive place while he paid a visit to another part of the district, returned to find that the spot he had left a short time previously had been obliterated. He had a few anxious moments until he found his party again in a safer locality. Two trampers who came up Lang’s track might easily have been trapped, as the fire at one stage changed direction in a curious manner and turned downhill again. USEFUL FIRE-BREAK. The fire-fighters were considerably helped in their efforts by the fact that a long stretch of gorse and other scrub had been cleared down Long Ridge. But for this gap, the conflagration would have had much more serious consequences. Even as it was, the flames ■ jumped across portion of the ridge road Itself and ate into the plantation. This morning a pall of smoke still hung over the countryside, but the only flames that were left were under control, and by judicious burnings of a deliberate nature, the workers were sending them the way they wanted them to go.