Grass fire erupts behind Junee home amid high fire danger

LOCAL firefighters were kept busy on Saturday afternoon after a grass fire erupted behind a home in Junee amid gusty, high fire danger conditions.

The blaze is understood to have broken out beside a shed at the rear of a property on the corner of De Salis Drive and Gwynne Place.

Junee Fire & Rescue arrived on scene shortly before 5pm, supported by three local RFS crews.

Photo: © The Junee Bulletin

Photo: © The Junee Bulletin

Despite the challenging weather, the fire was contained to a small section of the property.

The shed sustained some damage, along with nearby items, but the swift response from both the home owner and local fire crews prevented the blaze from spreading further.

Photo: © The Junee Bulletin

Photo: © The Junee Bulletin

Moments after wrapping up at Gwynne Place — and before crews were able to return to station — local RFS volunteers were deployed to a second reported fire in Desalis Street at Old Junee, around 10km away.

Fortunately, that call turned out to be a false alarm, believed to have been a duplicate of the original incident due to similarities in the street and locality names.

Photo: © The Junee Bulletin

Today’s back-to-back callouts highlight the readiness of Junee’s firefighters — paid and volunteer alike — to respond at a moment’s notice, especially on days when heightened fire danger keeps the entire community on edge.

High fire danger is again forecast for the Eastern Riverina today, Sunday, November 16, with conditions set to ease overnight into Monday.