A car which ran off the road near Pomborneit caused a one hectare blaze that could have been a potential disaster if it wasn't for the quick response of firefighters on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Pomborneit firefighter Terry Place said a woman in her 20s lost control of her vehicle on Hawks Nest Road and got stuck on some rocks about 3.30pm.
Mr Place said the accident itself caused little damage to the car, but it had become wedged on rocks and a post and couldn't be moved.
The driver, who was uninjured, walked the two kilometres to where she had been house sitting for friends who were on their honeymoon.
Her father was at the house but by the time he arrived at the accident scene, there was nothing he could do - the car was well alight by then.
A landowner nearby had spotted the blaze and alerted the fire brigade whose rapid response averted what Mr Place said could have been a bigger problem.
He said that it was fortunate that the car had run off on the south of the highway because the direction of the wind was pushing the flames towards the road rather than away.
Mr Place said the seven fire trucks and two slip-on fire vehicles were able to contain the blaze to a hectare and prevent it from jumping the road.
"If it had gotten across the road it would have taken off into the Stony Rises which is inaccessible," he said.
"Instead of it taking us half a day to put the fire out it would have taken weeks."
Mr Place said he suspected it was the vehicle's exhaust on some grass that sparked the blaze which broke out while the driver was seeking help.
The car was not running when the fire started. It was totally destroyed.
It was the second fire in just over a week that the Pomborneit fire brigade had been called to after a camp fire near Stoneyford got away last Friday and burnt a couple of hectares.