An
in-depth history of rural fire-fighting in New Zealand, published by Canterbury
University Press, is blazing a trail through a previously unexplored aspect of
our nation’s past.
Fire in the Hills:
A History of Rural Fire-fighting in New Zealand, by Wellington writer and editor Helen
Beaglehole, is the first account of how New Zealand came to have a rural
fire-fighting network.
It
offers fascinating insights into the origins, scale and effect of the vast burn-offs
by both Maori and European settlers; the Forest Service’s response to wild
fires; the huge public education regime that, along with legislation and
working co-operatively with the main culprits, sought to stop indiscriminate
burning; and the major role some 3000 volunteers and part-timers now play in
fighting rural fires around the country.
“The
book is about an important but previously neglected aspect of New Zealand’s
history,” said Ms Beaglehole.
“Readers
will learn about the terrible fires that devastated the country as both Maori,
and particularly, European settlers wrested a livelihood from the land; they
will develop an understanding of the European settler mentality, the
increasingly vocal arguments against the destruction of a valuable resource and
the way these factors shaped the way New Zealand deals with rural fires.
“Critical
to the story, too, are the techniques and technical developments that have
moved rural fire-fighters from the shovel and bucket brigade to today’s teams
whose training and equipment and knowledge of fire behaviour mean that
controlling or extinguishing a fire is no longer a matter of rain or wind
change.”
Ms
Beaglehole has based her richly illustrated book on extensive research into
historical records as well as on interviews with those who have fought fires as
part of the now defunct Forest Service and those men and women who continue to
battle wild fires today.
Ms
Beaglehole established herself as a writer with stories and novels for
children, which have been published in New Zealand and abroad. More recently,
she has turned to non-fiction. Fire in
the Hills follows her two books on New Zealand’s lighthouses and their
keepers, Lighting the Coast (CUP,
2006) and Always the Sound of the Sea (Craig
Potton Publishing, 2009).
Fire
in the Hills: A History of Rural Fire-fighting in New Zealand by Helen
Beaglehole, published by Canterbury University Press, November 2012, RRP NZ$50,
paperback, ISBN 978-1-927145-35-7
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