Police are investigating after more than a dozen hay bales were set alight in a vacant field, narrowly avoiding spreading to a neighbouring motor inn while guests slept.
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Forest Hill RFS and Turvey Park Fire and Rescue crews were called to Gumly Gumly at 9.30pm on Saturday after the fires were reported by passersby.
A spokesperson for Turvey Park Fire and Rescue told The Daily Advertiser the crew had to abandon efforts due to the inaccessibility of the terrain.
Forest Hill RFS crews managed to negotiate into the field and subdue the fires, leaving the stubs safely smouldering overnight.
In other news:
Owner of the Gumly Mercury Motor Inn, Varun Tandan, was alerted to the fires at 11.30pm and told The Daily Advertiser he arrived to see the emergency services working to control the fully-involved field beside his property.
"This is a quiet place, something like this has never happened before," Mr Tandan said.
"Thankfully the temperature was low and the risk [of spreading] was low. If it was last weekend, it would have been different."
Mr Tandan has owned the motor inn for the past three years and said the field beyond his property is managed and manicured regularly.
But recent rainfall and high winds have led to it becoming overrun with hairy panic weeds.
"Thankfully, the hay bales closer to [the motor inn] weren't set alight," Mr Tandan said.
"It's very green out there at the moment. There's been a lot of rain, if it was last year during the drought when it was dry, it could have been devastating."
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