BUSH FIRES AT OXFORD.

Globe, Volume V, Issue 595, 16 May 1876, Page 3

BUSH FIRES AT OXFORD.

On Saturday Oxford was visited by three separate fires, which in the course of a few hours destroyed a vast amount of property and threatened the whole township with destruction. A fierce nor'-wester was blowing in the morning, and the fury of the blasts were such that trees and chimneys were blown down, and any out-door employment was out of the question. Shortly before 9 a.m. a body of smoke was seen in the direction of Luers and Woodfield's mill and coming towards West Oxford station. The flames rapidly increased in volume and before 10 o'clock had reached Cusden and Bowman's saw mills. The mill hands had only time to hitch a team on to the engine, which was taken to the road, when the mill and cottages together with the timber, posts, and rails, & n , were one mass of fUmes, and surrounded by blinding smoke, and there was no time to save even the saws and tools. Within half an hour the gorse hedges near the railway station were on fire, and Mi Denby, the station master, considered it advisable to send all the rolling stock to Bast Oxford for safety ; a large quantity of firewood was stacked in the yard waiting for trucks, and this soon caught, and it was only by great exertions that the fire was kept from the station buildings, the goods shed siding having about two chains of sleepers burnt, and the rails bent with the heat into most fantastic shapes, Mr H. Wilson's house near the station was soon in flames, and the building and the bulk of the furniture was speedily destroyed, the inmates barely escaping with their lives. Great fears were now entertained that the whole of the township of West Oxford would share the same fate, as a large quantity of gorse was growing immediately to windward of the houses on the main road, and the wind was raging with unabated violence, the smoke rolling in dense volumes across the road, carrying with it huge flakes of fire, and making it both dangerous and suffocating to attempt to work on it. By the exertions of those present, however, the fire was kept from the buildings, although the hedges and firewood stacks all round them were a mass of flames. Farther west a house belonging to Mr G. Gibbs, carter, was burnt, also a timber wagon, Mr Harwood'B house, Mr Paw6on's haystack, and the whole of the fences from the station to the church were destroyed, and the bush up to Luers and Woodfield's mills. About two o'clock it began to rain, and kept on steadily for about two hours, the wind at the same time gradually decreasing until it became almost calm, and the efforts of the fire brigade and others were so far successful that no further damage was done, although the fire had managed to pass the township and reached across the river Eyre among the tussocks about a mile and a half. At East Oxford another fire was seen to start about half-past ten in the rear of Hamilton Bros', mill, and speedily gaining force with the nor'wester, the mill buildings were in flames before assistance could be procured to shift the engine to a place of safety, and all that was saved tiere were a few personal effects, and even they took fire in the dray on which they wera placed for removal. Travelling with a marvellous rapidity across the worked out bush in the direction of

East Oxford township, the fire destroyed in its course four houses and Lee's mill was soon in flames. A team of twenty-two bullocks were put to the engine, and succeeded in reaching the gateway, when one of the wheels broke down, and it had to be left, but being out of the reach of any considerable body of flame it escaped with trifling damage. Most of the tools, saws, &c, were thrown into the creek, and were saved, but the stock of timber, which was large, consisting of about 70,000 feet of sawn timber, 6000 posts, and an enormous quantity of firewood, together with mill buildings, cottages, &c, were totally destroyed, involving a loss of fully £IOOO. The fire continued to extend towards Luer's Hotel, the gorse hedges offering a tempting fuel, and the residents in High street had to make a rapid exit in the direction of the swamp for safety, and those who had time cleared out their furniture. A house belonging to Mr Broom, containing about £6O worth of hay, &c, succumbed, and the rain shortly afterwards commencing, further damage was stayed. A third fire also took place near Baxter's mill, six miles from Oxford, but we understand that the damage was of trifling extent. There is little doubt that had not the welcome shower come when it did, both townships would have been totally destroyed. As it is all danger is not yet past, as the bush was burning fiercely yesterday morning, and a nor'-wester blowing, although with less violence than on Saturday. The scene on Saturday night [was £at once grand and terrible, the side of the hill for ab">ut a mile being one red glow, with here and there a standing tree clothed with flame, and emitting showers of sparks, surpassing even Blondin's pyrotechnic display. The bush from West Oxford station, westwards for fully two miles, is still burning. As to thej origin of the fires, they are believed to be accidental; but there has been a deal of carelessness displayed in lighting fires in a dry bush at this season of the year. and in this case the results will be felt severely by many poor families, as each of the three mills gave employment to about twenty-five men ; it pimply means between seventy and eighty families deprived of thcii means of livelihood for the coming winter, besides the actual loss of many thousands of pounds worth of bush, and the total loss in some cases of house and effects. The newly formed fire brigade rendered valuable assistance ; although the engine was practically useless the members were conspicuous in their endeavors to allay the progress of destruction. As far as can be at present ascertained, the following ii a list of the sufferers -.—West Oxford—Horward, house ; Pawson, stack of hay ; Jones, house ; Wilson, house ; Clark, house; Bowman's house and furniture ; about 500 acres of bush, more or less valuable, and all the fences over the area which the fire covered, and it is feared a number of cattle. In Bast Oxford, the houses of Nithii, Eonig, and Bonisch, Broome's barn, with the whole of the effects, and about 2CO acres of bush, and a large area still burning ; Hamilton's saw mill, buildings, machinery, and t'mber, the quantity unknown ; Lee's mill, &c, damage as stated above; Cusden and Bowman'e mill, with about 30,000 ft timber, with all the outbuildings, cottage, most of the tools and waggons partly bnrnt. The whole of the properties destroyed are, we regret to state, uninsured. Hamilton's engine is understood to be insured for £2OO, but it is not certain whether the policy is not run out. A meeting was to be held last night for the purpose of adopting some means of relief for the sufferers.