Flames were leaping about three or four times higher than the trees when Mick LeCocguen looked out the back of the farm property he lives on near Pierces Creek shortly before sunset on Thursday.
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The bushfire was about 1.5 kilometres away and moving closer.
"You couldn't even see the tops of the flames because they were in the smoke," he said.
"You're looking at [flames] maybe 50 metres high."
Attempts to bring the fire under control continued on Saturday, with six helicopters waterbombing the Pierces Creek blaze and firefighters strengthening containment lines and backburning.
Early on Saturday afternoon, when the fire had increased to 202 hectares in size, Mr LeCocguen estimated the frontline was about 800 metres from the property he rents from local farmer Michael Shanahan.
He said that compared to the 2003 fires, which he experienced when he lived on another nearby property, this blaze was "pretty little", and that he was confident it would be brought under control before long.
He praised firefighters' efforts and said the small amount of rain that fell during a short storm on Friday evening might not have seemed like much, but it had made a big difference.
"It was enough to put a dampener on [the fire]," Mr LeCocguen said.
"You wouldn't think two millimetres would make a difference, but it did."
He said he was well prepared to act should the fire move closer to the property.
"We've got all the right gear," Mr LeCocguen said.
"I’ve got a pump set up around the corner on a tank and enough hose to go right around the house and around the sheds.
"There’s a standpipe, we’ve got a Mercedes tanker parked up here in the machinery shed and a Toyota Landcruiser, and everyone’s only a phone call away."
