She said the fire was particularly bad on Monday night when “the smoke was so thick I couldn’t breathe” and added that the firefighters had been “amazing”.
Ian Putland said even with the windows closed he could smell the fire.
“I heard about it a couple of days ago, and didn’t think it would affect me… but then I came out yesterday and saw ash on the car and it indicated how close the fire was,” he said.
“I was then alarmed with all the fire people about.”
He added that he was “frustrated that the fires had been started deliberately”.
“There’s the wildlife killed, people are being put in danger and it takes emergency services away. It is a real waste of resources.”
Christian Hadfield, area manager at SWFRS, said crews had been at the incident since Saturday but declared it a major incident on Monday in order to protect homes in the area.
“We are putting fire breaks in and monitoring the area,” he said.
He added there were reports of “pockets of deliberate fire setting” which put the crews “under really critical conditions and stretches the service”.
The fire was “unpredictable and complex work”, he said, and firefighters could be there “for many days to come”.
