Rutherglen Acting Sgt Phil Ryder said 70 square metres of grass was burnt when a fire broke out at the back of houses in Traton Street, Wahgunyah, at 3.30pm.

“Bushland is one thing but once it gets into residential areas it’s another thing altogether,” he said.

Sgt Ryder praised the CFA’s quick response.

Wodonga police’s Operation Firesetter team officers who investigate the cause of fires, have opened an investigation and were yet to determine how the fire started.

The Firesetter team at Wangaratta yesterday interviewed a man about an unattended campfire and later charged him.

Acting Sgt Amanda Meagher, of Wangaratta, said the team had been checking a “person of interest” yesterday afternoon.

The team found an unattended campfire on the banks of the Ovens River, 80 metres east of the Hume Freeway.

Sgt Meagher said police and firefighters treated unattended campfires seriously.

“Given the weather conditions and the history of fires in the area, it’s serious,” she said.

“It’s a concern because it has the potential to threaten property and lives.”

A Wangaratta man, 48, will be charged on summons for lighting a fire on a fire ban day.