Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Saturday 15 January 1944, page 9


FIRES IN WIDELY-SEPARATED ZONES

The flies were located on widely scpaiated fionts m a huge area, mostly in the western distuct, but reached as far north as Beechwoith

A change of wind eaily this evening eased the position tempoiauly in some aiens but accentuated the position in others, notably at Gisborne and

Woodend »»here the Black Foi est »»as in dangei

Beechwoith, Lismore, Hamilton, Dunkeld G*sborne, Woodend Calling-ton, Waincooit, Ciessy, Winchel| sea, Wanendytc, and Dajlesfoid

all had an anxious tune

i To-days fa es recalled the disastrous

outbteaks of 1930 which began on

'Black Fildav" Jannali 13 Yvith a |70-moh »»ivd in a tempei ature of

114 degrees (Melbourne) and icsulted ni a locs of 69 Ines in the State

On the dav aftei "Black Fiiday ' the

|hoat-»va»e ieach"d Sydney wheie the

tcmperatuie soaicd to the îecoid figuie of 113 6 and flies burned in the hint« land

500 SHEEP BURNED

About 20 homes »vere destioved in the Colac fires to-day On Wanowie pstate, 1 000 acies of grass and 500 sheep »»ere lost

The fire then spicari aeioss count!y causing considerable damage at Wain-cooit »»heie five homes the Methodist church, and a lal se quantit» of flax, giass hay ciops and stacks

were binned

Birregurra was next in dangei The »»omen and chiloien weic taken to safety on the il\er bank

Farther out in the Western District, at Dunkeld neai Hamilton a fierce file ssvept tato paît of the town fiom the slopes of Mt Sturgeon, \»ith amazing íapiditv

Residents had no chance to sa»e then piopeity and many had to fice foi their li» es

The flic then crossed the raihtaj into hea»ily glassed pastoial piopeity, and hete the losses in stock fencing and ciops, as »»eil as homesteads, will amount to a great flgmc

Thiity-fi»c homes and business pic

mises m the path of the flic veiej destrojed The mountains aie ablate I

and dancei exists for the lemainder of Dunk Id township

Devastation on all sides is repotted fiom Lismoic by fiie-flghteis who state tint houses cattle a flax mill

and stacks weie destioved by one of the vvoist lues e\penenced In the

district

Communications with Lismoie were disrupted bj the Llaze and Lismoie township itself was menaced An SOS was sent to Campeidown for food foi 200 people evacuated fiom the neighboring towns of Dallington and Deninallum which aie repotted to be burnt out

Neal cr Geelong a file stilted in the Winchelsea aiea and travelled in the duection of Buckley Thousands of acres of gi ass and hnv were destioyed

Winchelsea is now in danger as the flic to the noith is about eight miles away and is approaching the town Hundieds of fire fightcis from Gee long aie out

HAMILTON'S FIGHT

The most catastiophic fne in the histoiy of Hamilton swept into the outskirts of the town fiom the north and west to dij Ai.ait fiom outer dis-trict losses 40 homps were oestiojed Seveial percons saved their lives only bj leaping into dams as the flames swept toward them

To-night voluntary squads were cann" foi the homeless and the smoke blinded otheis weie endeavoui

ing to ti ace missing members of

families

A fiercp hot wind diove the flames witi incicdible speed lion sheets lipped fiom the loots of buildings clashed into the main sticet

Almost the enthe business centre closed down and hundreds of people fought the flames Helpeis bicugnt food and rinnl foi the fighters Man> wom°n went with the men to the file fiont

The total aiea devastated in the Hamilton distiict piobably exceeds 20 000 actes The Hamilton bark mills in the Hamilton station vaid were destroved and the coal sheds later ignited The lines on the tmntableo at the railwnj station waipel to such an extent that it was impossible to move cngin°s m oi out of the sneds A ccal loaae was destiojed its loss is

estimated at £10 000