Three teens had a lucky escape from a crashed car that ignited a grassfire in Mount Clear and spread into nearby plantations.
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CFA units moved swiftly on Sunday including with helicopter support to extinguish a plantation fire between Magpie and Mount Clear before it could threaten surrounding suburbs.
The fire started at about 1.30pm and ten CFA units and a helicopter brought the fire under control within an hour.
Units continued to mop up the burnt area for much of the afternoon.
The blaze burnt out a sector of the pine plantation on Frenchmans Lane about eight hundred metres north east of the Magpie Primary School.
While some residents suspected another burnt-out stolen car may have ignited the blaze, The Courier has received confirmation that the car was a 4WD Nissan X-trail and was not stolen.
There were three occupants in their teens, including the driver.
The car rolled and the teenagers had to make a rapid exit from the car due to its fuel tank being punctured in the rollover.
"The whole car just went up," one of the occupants told The Courier.
"The car was on its side. We had to climb up through the door to get out.
He said he and his fellow passengers all managed to escape without injury.
"The whole thing was exploding multiple times.
"It blew the bonnet and spat more fuel off in front of it, it lit two sides of the road up."
He said the CFA came to put out the fire by the road, while a fire-fighting helicopter was deployed to put out the fire that spread to the plantation.
The blaze was fanned by strong northerly winds which reached speeds of almost 70 km/h during the afternoon.
Smoke was visible from the blaze for much of the afternoon.
The CFA issued an advice warning for Magpie, Mount Clear, Mount Helen, Sebastopol.
The whole thing was exploding multiple times. It blew the bonnet and spat more fuel off in front of it, it lit two sides of the road up.
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