Strong winds fanned the flames of the outbreak on Readers Road, some 17km southeast of Goulburn. It burnt out about five hectares.

Southern Tablelands RFS Inspector Ian Kennerley said it started underground from a pile burn in August.

Eight crews comprising 18 personnel, attended, while another three vehicles were placed on standby. Mr Kennerley said it was fortunate the RFS was doing a driver training course nearby at the time and vehicles were on hand. Another crew had been checking camp fires in the area this morning.

“The first truck knocked it down pretty quickly,” he said.

Residents of nearby Faithfull Lane, Ekaterina and Alex Mortensen, said neighbours helped fight the fire and supplied a truck with a water tanker for crews.

It was burning on open grassland on private property but reasonably high flames were also reaching into roadside scrub. At one point it jumped Readers Road but was halted just inside the boundary fence of the property opposite where the fire escaped.

Mr Mortensen said crews were now mopping up.

Their property was not threatened.

“(But) if the grass had been a bit longer it would have gone straight through our place,” he said.

The RFS had declared a total fire ban for Saturday with a severe fire danger. Cooler temperatures are expected later today, with snow forecast in alpine areas.