Firefighters at the scene.
A BERRINGA man is counting his blessings after escaping a fire that burned out of control on Saturday afternoon.Country Fire Authority crews and Department of Sustainability and Environment units battled the blaze at Staffordshire Reef, near the Enfield State Park.Air support was also called in to assist in fighting the fire, but was abandoned when ground crews brought it under control. About four hectares of grass and scrub was burnt.Peter Nash told The Courier a bird bath, used as a makeshift fireplace, was believed to have sparked the fire on his property.Mr Nash said he burned a small piece of timber in the terracotta bath late Friday night, and after waking to a phone call from a friend the next morning, noticed a nearby blackberry bush alight.
The 56-year-old said the fire raged out of control within minutes.“If I hadn’t have got up to answer the phone I wouldn’t be here. I would have been in bed and totally oblivious,” Mr Nash said.“I can’t believe it. I can’t believe a wet ember could stay dormant from 1am until 11.30am, for 10-and-a-half hours and then just flare up.”Mr Nash, who has lived at the property for about 18 months, was apologetic to his neighbours, who also had part of their property burnt.“The first brigade couldn’t believe how quick it got going because the wind just kept changing directions,” Mr Nash said.A CFA spokesman confirmed the fire was not being treated as suspicious, and praised the efforts of brigades who brought it under control.
View Larger Map“There was some concerns originally around the house, but the brigades got on scene fairly quickly and controlled it,” the spokesman said.“It was on difficult terrain so they did a good job bringing it under control.”The spokesman said it was a timely reminder for people to ensure fires were completely extinguished before leaving them unattended.“Just because it looks like it is out and you can’t see any embers doesn’t mean it doesn’t retain heat in it. The application of water is a good way to check,” the spokesman said.Follow @chrissymonal
