Fires tear through four hectares of bushland

Flames came close to homes at West Hoxton, where the fire jumped a main road and reached the boundary lines of the property.

“It’s just so scary, so scary,” homeowner Debbie told 9News.

She was home alone watering her garden when the smoke filled the sky above.

“I was hosing the trees, I didn’t know there was a fire,” she said.

Having lived through bushfires on the NSW South Coast, Debbie took no chances and packed her bags before emergency services came knocking for evacuations.

“They said, ‘oh there’s a fire’, and I said, ‘where?’ and they said, ‘in the next street, it’s coming this way’, but they said, ‘don’t worry we’ll look after you’,” she said.

The West Hoxton fire was brought under control and authorities were investigating what sparked the blaze.

“So we’re not sure about the cause of the fire at this time, but it has been handed over to police who will investigate it,” Blake Kingdon from the RFS said.

A second fire in nearby Cartwright ignited about 1pm, while the third in as many hours started on a vegetable farm in Rossmore.

The wind picked up the flames and started several spot fires across the property, while hazardous materials and old machinery made the fight even more difficult.

“We haven’t had too much rainfall around here so it’s quite dry for the grasslands and as we’ve seen lately very easy to ignite,” Matthew Pope from the RFS said.

All the fires have now been brought under control.