Truck saves firiesxa0as blaze sweeps over them

For 15 seconds the Smythesdale fire crew hunkered down in their truck as the fast-moving Scotsburn fire passed over them.  Two of these 'burnover' incidents were reported to occur throughout the blaze which destroyed more than 10 homes.  However, Smythesdale firefighter Lachlan O'Brien  said, while worried about incident, the crew was prepared for it.  "We were originally paged down Pryors Road (Scotsburn), we didn't get there because we were doing doorknocking, making sure people had evacuated."  "We were about a  kilometre and a half down the road and  I noticed the flames started to come out of the trees and the wind changed. "We had about five seconds to make a decision to try and seek refuge.  "We had a green paddock off the left, so we drove in and we parked in there and assessed what was going on. There was only about 30 seconds between dropping the curtains and seeking refuge and the sprinkler system coming on." The fireproof curtains and sprinklers are standard on many of the new trucks.  Ms O'Brien said the crew then put out a mayday call and let other crews know of their location and situation.  There were four crew members on the truck.  "So the decision was made that we went into burnover mode, within about 10 to 15 seconds the initial front had past, it went through so quickly because it was so  ferocious." "We were worried, we were all worried, but then again we train for this kind of thing, we have four appliances at Smythesdale and we train on all appliances for this situation and you know what the trucks capabilities are.  "In your mind you know that some day it might be real. There was never an immediate threat to our lives because the trucks are so awesome, it is fantastic what they can withstand. "It is my first fire of that magnitude, I have been to a lot of fires but nothing like that. It just flew through there like a freight train, there was nothing you could do." Mr O'Brien applauded the actions of residents in the area saying the vast majority left their homes early enough before the fire worsened.  "We door knocked about 15 houses