Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), Tuesday 8 January 1957, page 1


Huge Fire Races Into Queensland

SYDNEY, Monday.-A huge bush fire burning in the far north-west of N.S.W. for the past five days has swept across the Queensland border.

Another branch of the fire affected by change of wind to-day is sweeping towards the township of

Tibooburra.

Only flimsy reports of the fire on the Queensland side of the border have been received as all tele-phone communications be-tween the N.S.W town of Hungerford and the fire-front have been destroyed.

Officials of. the N.S.W. Bush Fire Committee con-ferred with police and local government authorities in Sydney to-night to review

the situation.

They arranged for heavy roadmaking equipment to be rushed to the threatened area to clear fire-breaks.

More than half-a-million acres of sheep grazing land In N.S.W. has been burned out by the fire, and stock losses have not yet been estimated.

Bourke police said tonight that the fire was raging 60 miles north of Wan-aaring or about 30 miles inside the Queensland

border.

They said the fire racing northward and westward was uncontrolled.

The dingo, fence between the two States had been burned, leaving N.S.W. open to a possible invasion.

No homesteads have yet been reported destroyed, but one man collapsed and died while patrolling a smouldering fire at Black Gate station, about 40 miles from Menindee on the Dar

ling River.

He was John Galloway, owner of the station.

Reports from southwest Queensland said nearly ex-hausted fire-fighters were to-night fighting to save Moombidary sheep station near the N.S.W. border.

Earlier, volunteers be-lieved they checked a fire on Currawinya Station in the Hungerford district, but it leapt fire breaks and surged towards Boombi-dary.

To-night, stations 50 miles away reported they could see the glow from the fires.

About 100,000 acres of grassland has been lost to a fire which was checked today at Zenonie Station, 45 miles south of Thargomin-

dah.

At Nevertire in N.S.W. about 700 volunteers fought throughout the night to check a widespread fire in heavily-grassed country.

Already 30,000 acres have been burned out and miles of fences have been destroyed on at least 10 properties.