CLOSE CALL: Worrigee resident John Meany with the burnt out section of grassland at Old Southern Road on Wednesday night, which he described as a “lucky escape”.
ONE local resident who had a lucky escape from a deliberately lit fire was Worrigee’s John Meany.
Mr Meany’s property in Sophie Road is adjacent to bush on Old Southern Road, with a small patch set on fire late Wednesday night.
He says he was lucky there was no wind to help the fire to take hold.
“We had just gone to bed at about 11 o’clock when there was a knock on the door with a passing motorist telling us a small section of bush adjacent to our side fence was on fire,” he said.
“We had heard voices outside but thought they were just people walking along the street and didn’t think anything of it.
“A second motorist stopped and rang Fire and Rescue NSW but we managed to get a hose to reach and put the blaze in a grassed area out.
“We were extremely lucky there wasn’t a wind blowing. Who knows where it may have ended up?
“We were lucky it didn’t get further into a number of fallen branches and more grass in the area.
“The local fire brigade arrived just to ensure it was completely out.”
The resulting patch of scorched ground is a reminder of perhaps just how lucky they were.
It was the second blaze in as many days on Old Southern Road, with a section of land near the intersection of Greenwell Point Road catching fire on Tuesday at the height of the local fire emergency.
That blaze came dangerously close to the boundary fences of a number of homes.
