FAVOURABLE weather conditions and a swift response from local firefighters prevented a grass fire from becoming a major emergency incident at Carpenter Rocks on Sunday evening.
Around 30 Country Fire Service volunteers and 15 forestry firefighters were called to Three Chain Road at around 4.30pm after reports of a fire.
They arrived to find a blaze burning in dry grass, which had started on private property.
Kingsley group officer Grant Fensom said crews worked for around four hours to fully extinguish the fire, which threatened local pine plantations.
“It burned around three to four hectares, including a hectare of pine plantations, however the damage was minimal due to the low intensity of the fire,” Mr Fensom said.
“All forestry agencies worked well with the CFS to help bring the blaze under control.”
Mr Fensom described the favourable weather conditions as “extremely fortunate” for fire crews and the surrounding communities.
“The closest brigade was around 20 minutes from the location of the fire, so if weather conditions were not favourable, it could have been a whole lot worse,” he said.
“If wind is driving a fire, it makes things quite difficult, so we were fortunate that was not the case on Sunday because it could have been 20 times as big.”
Crews remained on the scene until around 9pm before the fire ground was deemed safe.
“The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, however it did start on private property,” Mr Fensom said.
“There are no suspicious circumstances, however the cause will be investigated by police.”
Mr Fensom said it was a timely reminder for the South East community to be bushfire ready, with the fire danger season now well under way.
“The next three months in particular we will be on high alert as everything is really dry in the region,” he said.
“While no fire is warranted, it was good to get our new volunteers out fighting a real blaze on Sunday to give them some experience.”
While it has been pleasing to have new members join the Kingsley Group, Mr Fensom said local brigades are still on the hunt for new volunteers.
“We are always looking for new members and encourage members of the local community to join up.”
The Lower South East fire danger season started on November 22, 2018 and will run until April 30, 2019.
