Threat of potentially dangerous Ashbourne fire hosed down thanks to swift response from CFS

CFS crews have been praised after rushing to tackle a bushfire on the Fleurieu Peninsula – which burned right up to the rear of a home.

A property owner has praised the quick response from firefighters and water bombers to contain an out-of-control bushfire that burned right up to the rear of her house on Monday.

Frances Boag called triple-0 to report the fire, which started just a few metres from her house near Ashbourne, on the Fleurieu Peninsula, at 2.45pm.

She said fire crews arrived within minutes of her call.

“I’m very thankful to them, they responded swiftly and with the help of water bombers they were able to get it under control very quickly,” she said.

“If it jumped the river and began racing up the hill, they wouldn’t have been able to stop it.”

The fire burned right up to the verandah of her property, but Ms Boag said she wasn’t concerned for the house.

“It’s a concrete house and the wind was blowing the fire straight down the hill, so there was no real threat,” she said.

A fire has come very close to a home at Ashbourne in the southern Adelaide Hills today, 3 Jan 2022. Picture: 7NEWS

A watch-and-act message was issued to residents in the area, but four water bombers and 10 firefighter crews brought the blaze under control just before 4pm.

Ashbourne Country Fire Service captain Rob Crase said the fire had “dangerous” potential.

“There’s so much dry matter around the place, it doesn’t take long to get going,” Mr Crase said.

“If it was Friday last week, you wouldn’t have caught this, there’s a fair chance the house would have been in danger. Fortunately the wind was coming down the hill.”

Mr Crase said the quick response by firefighters was thanks to an increased membership since the Black Summer bushfires in 2019/20.

Ashbourne CFS captain Rob Crase and CFS volunteer Todd Fisher-Kappler check around the house for hot spots. Picture: Dean Martin

“People are just a lot more conscious of their local backyards and are wanting to protect them,” he said.

“With this fire, I could see straight away we had four members responding.”

The fire burned approximately 1ha of scrub.

Police attended the property, but the fire was not deemed suspicious.