PLANTATION FIRE

Hokitika Guardian, 5 November 1931, Page 6

PLANTATION FIRE

CITY COUNCIL RESERVE

BADLY DAMAGED

CHRISTCHURCH, November 4

Fanned by a moderate south-west wind, fire devastated over 150 acres of Finns insignis plantations belonging to the Christchurch City Council late yesterday afternoon. Suspicions circumstances surround the origin of the fire, there being evidence that it started in three or four places, each about haul' a mile apart from the other. It is stated that several residents of Brooiclands saw a fire ill the plantations on Monday night, but it was not until nearly two o'clock yesterday afternoon, when the wind sprang up from the south-west, that the trees were menaced. Men working in the plantations noticed smoke rising from one section, but they had not been fighting the fire for more than a few minutes when tires broke out in other sections. Two lorry loads of men were sent- out by the Reserves Committee and men were brought from Bottle Lake and Burwood. Th o fact that fires broke out in separate blocks ot trees without the flames having crossed the fire-breaks is suspicious. During! the past three or four weeks several fires have been put out in the City Council' reserves, and in each instance the cause of the outbreak has not been discovered. The fires started approximately a mile north of Bottle Lake Hospital, and a line of flames over half a mile long swept rapidly towards Brooklands. The flames burned south also and along the beach as far as. Heyder’s •Road. The north-east corner of the plantations, which was most badly affected, was thickly covered with dry rushes, which burned like tinder. Most of the damaged trees were young ones, having been planted only four or five years. One plantation about forty Gears old was also swept by the flames, but the damage has not yet been assessed.

By six o'clock the fire was under control, but smouldering embers are still a menace should the wind spring up from the east or north-west. Guards were posted last night, and were kept busy beating out small outbreaks. Mr M. J. Barnett, Superintendent of Reserves, stated last evening that there was no doubt that the fire had started in two or three places, and that the outbreaks which had occurred in the past few weeks had been suspicious. The more valuable plantations had fortunately escaped the flames, but hud the fire spread to these older trees the damage ’ would have been much greater. He said that at present it was impossible -to state the amount of damage that had been done, but suveyors would cover the ground to-day. “There

should certainly be a look-out tower built amongst the plantations,’’ said Mr Barnett, “for at present the man who are working amongst the trees, cannot see a fire until it has been burning for some time and sending up a large volume of smoke.”