VIVID SCENES ON BLAZING SLOPES TEAROHA FIRE

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 276, 11 February 1928, Page 1

VIVID SCENES ON BLAZING SLOPES TEAROHA FIRE

MIDNIGHT CALL TO ACTION ACRES OF FOREST BURNED (Special to THE SUN.) TE AROHA, To-day. rO HUNDRED townsmen rallied to the support of the fire brigade in the desperate fight with the forest blaze on Te Aroha Mountain. Just before midnight a fresh alarm was raised, and the struggle, at close quarters, was continued into the night. Valuable reserves, and the town itself, were menaced. To-day the situation is easier, but everything depends on the wind.

A FTER a lull which, lasted for practlcally the whole of yesterday, the huge blaze which swept the northern section of Te Aroha Mountain broke out with renewed ferocity in the catchment area of the Te Aroha water supply system. At 6.30 p.m. the whole of Bald Spur and the tourist domain on the other side were in imminent danger. An alarm was given and in response to an appeal by the Mayor, Mr. It. Coulter, that every man who could get away rush to the scene and assist the brigade in a concentrated effort, about 200 fire fighters were on the scene in quick time. There followed a desperate twohour battle, in which the ring of firefighters, smoke-begrimed and wear? from their earlier fire fighting work, wrestled with the blaze, which was roaring like a furnace. If the flames had not been thus combated nothing could have prevented their spreading to Bald Spur, and the valuable tourist domain grounds, which are as dry as parchment after the prolonged drought. The blaze, fanned toward the spur by the breeze, was fafct getting out of control, s p a desperate measure had to be adopted. The fire fighters worked round to near the base of the spur and set fire to the scrub there. By concentrating on beating behind the flames they kept them in the direction which caused the two fires to meet at an apex, and thus burn themselves out. A CLOSE CALL

It was a close call. The superintendent of the fire brigade, who marshalled, the squads and directed operations, wag responsible for the grand save. The outbreak was right in the town water supply catchment area, and thus the danger was twofold. It was a weary band of fighters who, having won out for the time being, returned to town, hoping that the immediate danger was over for the night, but helmets and old clothes were donned again at 11 p.m., when the wind, which had in the meantime veered round, blew down the mountain toward the town.

It fanned the embers afresh, and fired the scrub lower down, nearer Bald Spur, which roared and crackled like a furnace in a spectacular blaze. In the darkness of the heavy bush the climb to the scene was dangerous, and fighting the raging fire on slopes that were mostly precipitous, and extremely treacherous, and where vision was anything but good, was a stiff task.

Townspeople and brigade alike were again working side by side, and at great personal danger, for the wind was very fluky, often having the firefighters beaten as it curled back unexpectedly on its tracks, necessitating a scurry for safety. With hooks and slashers a break was made and the lire, which by this time had worked to a point with but a watercourse separating it from the whole face of Bald Spur, turned toward the bare ground of the old quarry

and waterfall above the town reservoir. For an hour and a-half the tussle lasted, and it seemed as if the wind,

which was freshening, would win out. for the fire, but the herculean efforts of fighters were wonderfully maintained, and after an evening of the utmost anxiety they gained the upper hand. By morning control of the fire was once more in the hands of the firefighters, and the danger to domain and town was staved off. The midnight b[aze provided a wonderful spectacle from the town below, as flames roared skyward, and showers of sparks gave the face of the slope the appearance of an inferno, in the light of which could be discerned the forms of men depicted luridly in the glare as they fought the fire at close quarters. It was a magnificent effort that kept the fire confined to the gully and water course, and it would now appear that the danger in the lower quarter, where yesterday’s outbreaks occurred, is practically passed. This morning the quarry men were engaged in further quelling of the burning logs and pungas, which are the greatest menace. Furthermore, the Borough Council also sent up a contingent to do battle in the higher

country, where danger of the fire cutting back on to Bald Spur, from the rear, is still very grave. The weather shows signs of changing, and a stiff breeze is blowing this morning. The heavy bush high up is still burning and the fire is still making progress into the back country. A picturesque tree fern gully to the left of Bald Spur was gutted, and is still alight. Upon the weather conditions ’the whole situation hangs. If a gale rises irreparable damage will be unavoidable. PROPERTY LOST SHEEP AND TIMBER NELSON, To-day. Serious scrub fires are raging in Redwood’s Valley. Three thousand acres of land have been swept. The strenuous efforts of settlers saved several homes that were endangered. Many acres of pinus insignis trees and also a considerable number of sheep were desroyed.