'Massive fire' at Eden close to homes, but quickly brought under control

Black smoke and an enraged fire ignited the sky at Aslings Beach on Tuesday afternoon, September 19, near the corner of Lake and Mitchell Streets, just across the road from Ms Baxter's home

"All of a sudden the trees started to flare up and it was a massive fire," Ms Blaxter said, who had prepared by spraying the roof and the upper balcony of her home with water to reduce the likelihood of an ember-caused fire taking place.

"There were three or four young blokes putting it out here on the side of the road. They were trying to put it out," she said, before describing how someone poured what looked to be an esky of ice on the fire.

"Then a fellow came in a ute and he happened to have a hose on the back with water, so he helped, then [the] fire brigade turned up."

The fire came just one hour after the Rural Fire Service upgraded the Far South Coast's fire danger rating from Extreme to Catastrophic.

By 2.10pm firefighters had gained the upper hand and it had de-escalated to Advice level with no immediate threat to homes or lives.

READ ALSO: Far South Schools to reopen Wednesday following fire threat closures

The weather was expected to ease overnight with the fire danger rating for Wednesday, September 20, to be High.

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