Blaze comes close to Stratham

More than 30 volunteers and a fortunate wind direction saved the townsite of Stratham from a raging fire during the early hours of Monday morning.

While most of us slept, a 1.45am pager alarm prompted firefighters from across the South West to combat a fire at Rich Road.

When volunteers arrived the fire was on both sides of the road and moving quickly.

Firefighters spent more than five hours controlling the fire with seven water hoses.

Shire of Capel deputy chief bushfire control officer Murray Scott said if there had been a south-westerly or sea breeze, the result could have been dire.

‘‘It was lucky it was an easterly wind or Stratham could have got a shake up,’’ he said.

Mr Scott said the commitment of volunteers was immeasurable.

‘‘They’re pretty well tuned—one pager goes out and 10 to 15 minutes later we’re immobilised,’’ he said.

‘‘Credit goes to the partners, wives and family of personnel.’’

A front end loader was used to create an earth break, bushland was back-burnt and some volunteers worked until 5.30pm at the site.

But the men and women who placed themselves in harm’s way were modest about their commitment.

‘‘It’s a sense of pride in helping your community out,’’ Mr Murray said.

FESA South West area manager Ross Bradshaw said the fire was being treated as suspicious.

More than 15ha of bushland was burnt in the blaze.