BUSH FIRES.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9079, 20 February 1908, Page 5

BUSH FIRES.

DAMAGE- IN THE OTAKI DISTRICT. Per Press Association. ' Wellington, February 19. Fires have made their appearance the Otaki district, and are doing much damage to other districts along the ,Manawatu line. The properties along the hills are a mass of smoke, and great alarm is felt for the settlers in the hack blocks. ;At Waikanae, mill hands have been obliged to give up mill work, and turn their attention to saving the plant and swamp, and the town is enveloped in smoke. Between the. Otaki Bridge and Te Horo—at least along the railway line—the place is practically free of ; smoke, but the hills are all smoke covered. ; South of Waikanae the fires threaten to : do an immense amount of damage; and have crossed the railway, causing wholesale destrntcion to tiie fences and carriyng all before them. It is that the bush fires destroyed Mr Taylor’s house at South Manakau, Mr Dunn’s residence, and Mr- Bevan’s stable at Otaki; George and Owen’s, and Mr Walter Garter’s at Reikiorangi. The wind has- now dropped, and the greatest danger appears to be over: At Levin, Mr Dean’s house was burned, and the fires are so threatening that a continuous watch has to be kept.

REPORTS FROM AUCKLAND. Auckland, February 19. From all over the country accounts are received regarding the damage done* by k bush^fires^ 'and the city is still enveloped in a®haze of smoke. To-day a lire threatened the Cambridge Sanatorium* in the northern Wairoa district. Miles and miles of country are burning at Helensville. A six-roomed house, occupied by Mr Rylands and family, was destroyed, having caught fire from sparks carried from the burning bush. The Waitere Bush, in the Waihi district, containing millions of feet of valuable timber, has been blazing since of last [week, and the Mataura" Valley bush is-also on fire. A number of farmers attending the Huuterville Ram Fair yesterday reported that fires were raging in ail directions and settlers in the Sandon Block had been fighting the flames for three days under distressing conditions So far it is impossible to get particulars of losses, but reports that reached Hnnterville went to show that Mr Ewen McGregor's fine grazing property of over a 1000 acres had been swept’by fire. His milling bush has, so far, escaped, but if the wind changes the results will be disastrous.* In the Pukeokahm block a clean sweep has been made of Mr Neil Small’s place and he is the heaviest loser in that district, but others have had serious losses, the fires having played havoc on the properties of Messrs Smith and G. L. Marshall. The Pohonui settlement was ablaze yesterday and a settler from that district reports that Messrs Michael Lynch and Michael Greever’s buildings were completely destroyed, besides a great area of grass country. Yesterday fires were raging fiercely all along the eastern bank of the Rangitikei river, but the fortunes of settlers are unascertainable. At Hnnterville "yesterday afternoon a grass fire started in the Hnnterville Reserve and took possession of the hillside and. several buildings were jin, danger. It was with much difficulty the fire was kept from spreading.. Pakihikura lias suffered immense damage. Feed lias been destroyed in every direction.. Wainku, February 20.

As a result of fires the country is divested of every vestige of green, except-in the*swamp. The surrounding bills are a mass of burning .embers. A“large"quantity of valuable timber has been destroyed in Marshall’s bush

(From Our Apiti Correspondent.) The upper sawmill of Messrs Banks & Co. at Table E lat has been destroyed,, and also the residence and contents of dwelling occupied by Mr J. Davey. Apiti- township was enveloped in smoke on Tuesday, and fanned by a south easterly gale, the fire in the vicinity burned fiercely. The [house occupied by Mr F. Obeli narrowly escaped demolition, whilst the inmates were with difficulty;'assisted to a safer retreat.