A family has been left devastated but thankful after a grass fire tore through one of its sheds in Brewster on Wednesday afternoon.
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The fire, which the State Emergency Centre told The Courier was likely started by lightning, started around 2pm, moving quickly across Brewster paddocks and burning over 100 hectares of land.
Engulfing mostly farmland and trees, the fire unfortunately reached one family's shed, which housed a prized boat.
Despite the best efforts of a pair of fire trucks, the boat and shed here completely destroyed.
One family member told The Courier while it hurt to see their boat's charred remains, he was thankful it didn't reach the rest of the property.
It's terrible... you see these things on TV and you never think they'll actually happen to you.
- A member of a family who's boat was destroyed by the grass fire in Brewster.
"I guess we just need to be thankful it didn't come further onto the property or get to the house."
The fire stopped less than 10 meters from another shed on the property, which housed more vehicles and equipment.
The man said he was unaware of the blaze until a friend who lives nearby alerted him.
"They told me there was a fire near our place... when I made my way here it looked like it was heading away from the house but obviously we weren't so lucky."
While the property didn't house any livestock, the man was relieved to find all the family's animals okay when he arrived.
"We've got three horses and four dogs... it was nice to see they were all okay. We've also got a chicken, which the fire somehow just went perfectly around."
Ultimately over 20 fire crews were able to bring the blazes under control by around 3pm, thanks in part to heavy rain and hail, which washed over the region for around 10 minutes.
While firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control within two hours in part thanks to the rain, the unpredictable conditions were what initially fueled the fire.
After the suspected lightning strike started the fire in a paddock in between Carpenters Road and Modesty Lane, the fire began to spread, remaining around three hectares in size for the first 10 minutes.
After the wind change came through however, the intensity of the blaze picked up, pushing the fire over Modesty Lane and in the line of homes.
The CFA considered closing the Western Freeway due to the speed the fire was traveling at, however were able to bring the fire under control before that became necessary.
Crews in the region had their hands full elsewhere as well, with a grass fire starting up near Napoleons around 3pm, also believed to be as a result of a lightning strike.
The fire is burnt near Colac-Ballarat Road, but was brought under control quickly thanks to the heavy rain in the area.