POLICE are investigating the cause of a grassfire which threatened houses and burned through 60 acres of privately owned land on the outskirts of Kerang on Sunday evening.
In total, 11 fire trucks and three support vehicles attended the blaze, which spread between Lilac Avenue, McCann Crescent and Hayman Lane.
Kerang captain Ramon Steel said the brigade was called to the fire at 6.06pm.
“On arrival it was quite obvious it had spread quickly,” he said.
The back fence of the house, where the blaze started, was destroyed and firefighters went into “asset protection” mode before tackling the flames in the grass beyond, Mr Steel said.
“One house was under immediate threat when we arrived.
“We made sure the house was safe and then started chasing the grassfire,” he said.
Mr Steel said accessing the blaze was made difficult by its spread across lots of small paddocks with locked or closed gates.
“It was a fast moving grassfire,” he said.
“Our biggest concern was that it didn’t get into the cemetery swamp, because we can’t get a truck in there.”
Tankers from Lake Charm, Cohuna, Murrabit, Koondrook, Appin South, Sandhill Lake, Macorna and Meering West joined Kerang’s two tankers. A pumper and quick fill support trailer were also involved in the operation.
Firefighters worked tirelessly on the fire for around an hour and a half, before it was brought under control.
In a separate incident, just after midnight, firefighters attended a second fire in Kerang.
A fence caught alight in Lyall Avenue, after hot ashes were emptied onto a garden bed.
“The fire burnt along the fence line between properties and the fence was damaged,” Mr Steel said.
“Luckily, a dog barked and woke some of the residents up. They were able to keep the fire from spreading with their garden hose, which was good.
“There were no flames when we got there.”
Monday marked the beginning of fire season in the Gannawarra district, which means burn-offs are not permitted.
