Fifty-five years after her grandfather lost his home in Hobart's Black Tuesday bushfires, Karen Cupit had to defend her own home against a rapidly escalating blaze.
The fire, which started in the Hobart suburb of Dynnyrne on Saturday afternoon, reached the corner of Ms Cupit's Oberon Court property.
She raked leaves from her gutters and used a hose to defend her home before the fire travelled away from her property and up the hill towards Olinda Grove.
Saturday's near miss came after Ms Cupit's South Hobart family home survived the 1967 Black Tuesday bushfires that destroyed the homes of her grandparents and aunty.
"Fire doesn't worry me, because I think the [1967] bushfires … you can't be any more shocked than that and as a little six-year-old, it's just burnt into your brain," she said.
The 1.5-hectare fire yesterday destroyed one outbuilding but a combination of aerial and ground firefighting crews protected 15 properties under threat at the height of the fire.
The blaze started at Proctor's Road Dynnyrne just after 2pm and surged uphill, with the Tasmania Fire Service issuing an emergency warning within an hour.
But fire crews quickly brought the blaze under control, with an advice alert in place by Saturday evening.
Brothers Jack and Fox Crump had to flee their Oberon Court home as flames encircled it, destroying an outbuilding at their property.
Their family grabbed their dog and evacuated to the University of Tasmania Sandy Bay campus, with their father playing a crucial role in saving a neighbouring property.
"I came out and there was heaps of smoke everywhere, it was real crazy," Jack said.
"It made me feel real safe when I saw the fire trucks coming up."
Fire sparked by brush cutter
Fire investigators have deemed the cause of the blaze to be due to a brush cutter being used in Proctors Road.
TFS regional investigator Tim McKay said a person was using the machinery to clear vegetation when its metal blade struck rocks and ignited nearby scrub.
Chief fire officer Dermot Barry said Saturday's events should serve as an example of how quickly fire could spread in the right conditions.
"Yesterday's incident clearly demonstrates how important it is that people maintain vigilance when conducting any work which has the potential to start a fire," he said.
"Something as simple as having a garden hose on hand can make all the difference."
Mr Barry said deploying both ground firefighting crews and water-bombing aircraft early on, a lesson learnt from fighting the 2013 Dunalley bushfires, had played a pivotal role in limiting the damage.
"Yesterday we had our helicopters up, again there was fires that we could see and attack but there was hotspots that we weren't even aware of.
"Through coordination, we're able to have a real serious attack on the fires, keep the fires small, contain it, protect the property and protect the community."
A fuel reduction burn in the area last November has been credited with slowing the spread of the fire and Mr Barry said further burns were planned for Mt Nelson, South Hobart, Ridgeway and the Queens Domain this autumn.
Fire crews remained at the scene on Sunday and will continue to monitor it over coming days.
