At 2am on Tuesday morning, the hills north-west of Fingal suddenly lit up as the Mangana Road fire approached.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Residents made their way onto the streets to find the best vantage point as embers started to rain down, causing a second fire to start in the valley to the south.
Fingal IGA owner John Vincent said it happened in a matter of minutes as the hills burnt brightly for over two hours.
"In the space of three minutes it just spread in two directions. No one got any sleep because of what was happening," he said.
"The whole hill was on fire.
"Everyone was trying to get a vantage point where they could see the fires. The footpath was full of people."
The fire was stopped about a kilometre from the township, but the orange glare and smoke haze continued throughout Tuesday as residents watched on, anxious of any strong wind change.
"Everyone is particularly anxious about the embers," Mr Vincent said.
"There's just so much fuel out there. You could see the flames clearly in the middle of the night, it was unbelievable."
Firefighters were able to carry out backburning at the golf course to create a break on Tuesday, while the fire entered the local tip in the afternoon on the edge of town.
It also entered pine plantations to the north of Fingal where helicopters circled in an attempt to stop the fire was spreading any further.
'It just kept spotting. It was an eye-opener'
One the region's largest farming enterprises, Malahide Estate, was in the direct line of the fire as westerly winds increased throughout the morning.
Farm manager Allister Wood led staff as they chased any spot fires in the pine plantations using tractors and graders, and relocated tens of thousands of sheep to open paddocks on the far side of the property.
Mr Wood said they were able to contain the fire at 4.30am, but the unpredictable winds caused it to break containment lines again later in the morning.
"When the heat of the day came up, at 9 or 10 o'clock, it just kept spotting. It was an eye-opener," he said.
IN OTHER NEWS:
"It got in the plantation, went across the tops. We were lucky enough that with our own staff, the tractors and the graders, we got it out.
"It's going north now, it's going up our property, but it's in native bush so it's not hurting much at the moment."
Tasmania's East has suffered through one of its driest periods in memory, heightening the risk of fire with large fuel loads and low soil moisture.
Mr Wood said a serious fire in the area was not unexpected.
"It hasn't been burnt in 30-40 years. We've been saying this for a long time, we need to light this in the winter, and it hasn't happened. We've got light these in the winter," he said.
"It just raced off the top of that ridge yesterday. We knew we were in trouble as soon as the fire went up. I was out in the middle of the farm. I could just see it, and she was away."
Unknown fire impact out towards Mangana
A Carrick family was among those to seek refuge at a shelter in St Marys on Monday night, as they were staying at their weekender property out towards Mangana at the time of the fire.
The lack of reception in the area meant they were still unsure of the impact of the fire, although they were convinced at least half of the property had been burnt, including sheds.
Two men had stayed behind to defend it.
One woman, who did not want to be named due to the unfolding situation, said they were anxious to hear news about the extent of the fire.
"There's no reception out there so we have no idea how it's going," she said.