Strong south-westerly winds near Duntroon yesterday morning had firefighters scrambling to control a blaze threatening a house in Earthquake Rd.
Duntroon Volunteer Fire Brigade Chief Fire Officer David Eckhardt said ''luckily'' the sole occupant of the house was woken shortly after the fire started and called 111 at 5.22am.
Trees had caught fire around the house, about 10km from Duntroon, and a strong southwesterly made fighting the blaze difficult, Mr Eckhardt said.
''It was terrible . . . It [the fire] was heading straight towards the house,'' he said.
Some spouting melted, but the house was otherwise undamaged.
''It was pretty lucky, really,'' he said.
Mr Eckhardt said fire crews from Duntroon and Kurow spent about four hours bringing the fire under control yesterday morning.
The cause had not yet been confirmed.
When the fire crews left the scene, Network Waitaki was assessing the area and repairing lines.
