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SUBTERRANEAN FIRE.
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Dangerous Area Near Causeway,
Unquenchable fire has been burning
underground for at least eight years, as
far as inquiries can elicit, in the re
claimed ground between the rear of the
Ozone Hotel and the Swan River fore
shore, where levelling is now being done.
One effect has been to render the sur
face of the ground unstable, and unwary
pedestrians taking a short cut from Ade
laide-terrace to intercept a bus along
Riverside-drive are apt to sink into
heated earth. The black soil is cracked
in a manner suggestive :f a volcanic
condition, and at times, particularly in
the early morning when mis's nag the
ground, smoke issues from the crust ovlr
a wide area.
Anyone venturing over the locality in
the afternoon, when smoke is not notice
able, can soon find evidence of .ubterran- I
ean heat by treading on the soft earth,
breaking the crust and sinking more
than ankle deep. If a hand is held in
the smoke which immediately escapes,
or laid on the newly exposed surface, the
warmth can be felt. At times it is said I
to be actually hot; and some months ago,
when levelling began ,in the neighbour
hood, red flags were placed on posts to
mark a danger area. Workers on the
levelling say that they have sunl; two or
three feet into the soft ground, but have
emerged without injury. They emphasise,
however, that there is danger to people
walking there and suggest that a large,
hot cavity may exist below the crust.
Until 10 years ago the area was used
by the Perth City Council as a rubbish
dump to fill in holes and make up a
level In land being reclaimed by the
Harbours and Rivers Department. It is
customary for the rubbish to be flooded
from a three-inch pump to prevent any
burning, and then to be covered with
sand or dead ashes for sanitary reasons.
Such deposits of rubbish, however, can
become combustible when the surrounding
terrain has drained all moisture from it.
The fire is believed to have started
since the flood of 1926, when the fore
shore for several chains from the river
bank to the landward side of the re
claimed area was completely submerged
for long enough to quench any fire. Apart
from the possibility of spontaneous com
bustion after the earth has dried out
again, the only source of the fire that can
be suggested is summer grass fires travel
ling doRnwards through the roots to the
rubbish, where smouldering continues in
definitely. As smouldering heaps are un
earthed today, rusty pieces of iron and
other relics of tip rubbish are disclosed in
their midst.
The area is being covered with yellow
sand to the level of Riverside-drive, and
it is intended to top-dress it later and to
provide lawns all over the area. Settle
ment is expected to occur, however, for
in some pot-holes, attributed to the burn
ing of masses of rubbish underground
and the consequent subsidence of the
crust, sand has been deposited to a depth
of 10 feet. It is expected that when the
sand levelling is completed and the lawns
have been made an airtight crust will
have been established over the danger
area which will effectively and perman
ently smother the burning and remove
the element of danger. It is understood
that the Perth City Council has received
a demand from a person who claims to
have had a garment damaged through
contact with the heated ground.
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