Ken Morey tries to put out the fire near his back fence in the Trevallyn Reserve. Picture: PAUL SCAMBLER
A FIRE at Trevallyn yesterday afternoon came extremely close to homes, forcing residents to defend properties with hoses and water buckets.
The Tasmania Fire Service is investigating the cause, believing it was accidentally started by a resident in New World Avenue.
The fire quickly spread through the Trevallyn Nature Recreation Area next to major electricity transmission wires that connect to the Trevallyn power station.
Trevallyn resident Sarah Challenor was alerted by a neighbour that the fire was right on her property boundary.
``It just happened so quickly, it was very worrying,'' she said.
A few doors down resident Jordan Gibson said he'd been hosing behind his parents' house for about an hour to fend off the fire in case the wind changed direction.
``Me and dad and a couple of neighbours have been really vigilant and maintained some grass and piled up some rocks because we knew it was going to happen sooner or later,'' Mr Gibson said.
Neighbour Sam Robertson said he'd been worried about the reserve ``all summer'' but said that the area immediately behind homes was kept quite clear.
Several residents said they hadn't seen a fire in the area for about 20 years.
Fifteen units from the fire service attended the blaze and brought it under control in a matter of hours.
The service was initially worried the fire, which jumped several fire tracks in the reserve, would burn in to rugged and remote terrain making it hard to contain.
Crews from all over the region were assisted by a $3 million water-bombing helicopter.
The fire service was also bolstered by Parks and Wildlife Service crews.
Several power poles were damaged, with Aurora Energy teams working on them last night. The fire spread through about four hectares and firefighters continued ``mopping-up'' well in to the night.