‘We nearly lost the house’
Home owner joins CFA in grassfire fight
A GRASS fire threatened homes and sent a thick black plume of smoke into the air at Bannockburn on Saturday.
CFA Region 7 brigades in 15 tankers and two aircraft rushed to fight the blaze in paddocks on Old Mill Rd on Saturday afternoon.
The Bannockburn fire was accidentally sparked by an angle grinder, Bacchus Marsh police sergeant Glenn Saw said.
Bannockburn resident Josh Bajc said the fire reached within one metre of his house. “We just heard some loud bangs ... it must have been going for 15 or 20 minutes before we finally heard it,” he said.
“I ran out to help out the firefighters with a couple of the hoses.” He said the fire “really took off” when the wind picked up.
“That’s when it got real close to the house . . . it came to our parking area, so about a metre from the house.
“We nearly lost the house, it was at the point they told us it was time to get out. I was freaking out, it was pretty crazy.”
He said he did not yet know the cost of what he had lost. Shipping containers holding items including childhood items were destroyed, with one completely gutted. Fencing on the property was also damaged.
The family was yesterday preparing to see to what extent a Harley-Davidson in one container had been damaged.
Bannockburn CFA captain Dale Smithyman said the fire burnt 7.7ha, with haybales destroyed along with the fences and three shipping containers.
A CFA spokesman said helicopter water bombers were called from Colac and Bacchus Marsh to fight the blaze, which was east of the Midland Highway.
The thick black smoke visible came from burning tyres.
Police attended the scene to manage traffic on the Midland Highway.
The temperature reached 29 degrees around 1pm at Bannockburn on Saturday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.