Cy Brewer’s house was saved from the fire, which he said got within 50 metres of it. 

He said the flames were shooting up to 150 feet above the treeline.

“There were some pretty massive flames. The CFA have done an excellent job. It was pretty touch and go,” he said.

A new resident in the area, he has only lived in the house for three months. 

He and some friends fought the fire with a tanker and a pump on the back of his ute.

“The bloke next door has lost his weekend shack and some sheds. He’s only 250 metres way,” he said.

Reno Bugeja said residents had been told by police to evacuate but he had stayed because he was confident of his fireplan as a CFA volunteer. 

He said the fire had come within 400 metres of his property on Colac-Ballarat Road.

“The fire captain said it’s best to stay at your house because that’s where it’s coming from,” he said.

Mr Bujega said he had 50,000 litres of tank water, as well as a ute with an extra supply of water, to help fight the fire if it got closer.

He was waiting to see if the wind would change and come back towards his property. Ember attacks could become an issue if that happened, he said.

“Everyone from Melbourne’s ringing us up, all the kids. But you feel confident, all the choppers are up there.”

“As long as nobody gets hurt, property can be replaced.”

Sheree Cameron, manager of the Rokewood Hotel, was fighting fear herself. 

She said the hotel was a point of contact for people who were out of town, ringing in for updates to find out information. 

“We’re fielding phone calls all the time – people who are in Melbourne not knowing whether to come up and if they were to come, if they could do anything,” Ms Cameron said.

“If the fire were to get them, it would be gone – they couldn’t do anything.”

Ms Cameron was also concerned for her son, who was out fighting fires. 

“My son works at Wurrook and lives there – he’s out fighting fires. We don’t know if his property is still there or not.

“We just have to wait here, so we can find out what’s here and what not.”

nicole.cairns@fairfaxmedia.com.au

tom.cowie@fairfaxmedia.com.au