Haddon man John Kamp said he first spotted smoke rising from bushland between Haddon and Smythesdale about 10.45am, when he arrived home from shift work.

He called the Victorian Bushfire Information Line, not knowing whether the smoke was the result of an authorised burn-off or not.

“I didn’t call triple zero straight away because I didn’t know if it was a false alarm,” he said.

“I just thought I would find out if anyone knew about the fire and what it was.”

Mr Kamp said he was told there was no reported fire in the area, and to call CFA district 15 headquarters in Wendouree.

“When I called them, they told me to ring the Bushfire Information Line,” he said. “So I called them back and they asked why I hadn’t rung triple zero – I said I didn’t want to alarm anyone in case it was nothing.”

Mr Kamp said the smoke plume was starting to get bigger so, more than 20 minutes since he first saw the smoke, he called triple zero.

“I just told them I could see a puff of smoke from my house, but I couldn’t give them an exact address for the fire,” he said.

“They kept asking where the fire was, but I couldn’t say exactly.”

After a delay, the triple zero operator said another call had come in for a fire on Hillcrest Road, which turned out to be the same one.

“The fire probably burnt for 40 minutes before someone got out there,” Mr Kamp said.

“I just wanted somebody to say ‘yep, we’ll go have a look’.”

A CFA spokesperson confirmed the incident was listed at 11.34am in their system. The Department of Sustainability and Environment was unable to say yesterday when it was first alerted to the fire.

The CFA spokesperson said the CFA would respond to any sighting of smoke “no matter how small”, and that people should call triple zero with any smoke sightings.

Police believe Wednesday’s fire was deliberately lit. Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Local fire danger ratings can be found at www.cfa.vic.gov.au. For all emergencies or signs of fire, call triple zero.