FIVE suspicious grass fires, lit across an hour late at night west of Wodonga, are being probed by police and the CFA.
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The first report came from Doolans Road at Browns Plains at 11pm Monday and it was followed by fires alongside nearby Haynes Road, Harkins Road and Mia Mia Road over the next 40 minutes.
The most serious was in Harkins Road where firefighters stopped flames engulfing farmer Col Harkin's 24-hectare wheat crop.
"I was extremely lucky," Mr Harkin said.
"I was very pleased that it was so minor."
Wodonga police's Detective Senior-Constable Ian Deverell said it was "lucky he didn't lose his whole yield….which is worth thousands".
"Deliberately-lit grass fires are senseless crimes that can have catastrophic consequences with people's lives and they can cause injury or even death," Senior-Constable Deverell said.
"We're appealing to the local community, if they saw any cars or strange behaviour in the area, to come forward.
"The damage is just minor fence damage, but it could have been a lot worse.
"A lot of these farmers are battlers and they don't need to lose their crop."
Mr Harkin, who is a CFA member, had driven to the scene of his property's fire in his former Barnawartha brigade tanker.
"Being at night it is not the most dangerous time, I just hope they've got enough sense not to do it in the middle of the day," he said.
CFA District 24 operations officer Adrian Gutsche accompanied bushfire investigators Bruce Vine and Andrew Schulz to each blackened site on Tuesday.
"It's a concern for the fire service, given we've had an early start to the summer," Mr Gutsche said.
"The reality is we have enough problems with fires during the summer time, let alone someone lighting them.
"We would ask the public to be vigilant and report suspicious things to Crime Stoppers."
Posters were erected on the fence line at the scene of each fire urging those with clues to call police.
Browns Plains hobby almond farmer James Harris said the torching of grass was inexplicable.
"I can't understand the logic of people doing that sort of stuff, it's something I can't comprehend," Mr Harris said.