CFA crews responded to a grassfire on Hoopers Road in Kialla at 3.18pm on 11 February.
Seven CFA units from Kialla, Kialla & District, Mooroopna, Shepparton East, Arcadia and Shepparton attended the scene.
Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) crews and air support also assisted on scene.
Incident Controller and Group Officer (GO) Ray Stockwell said the fire grew to around two hectares in size and impacted one haystack, comprised of around 250 large square bales.
“All the crews on scene worked really well together,” he said.
“As it was in CFA’s response area, FRV handed over control of the incident seamlessly and did a great job to support on scene.”
The incident was listed as under control at 4pm and crews remained on scene for hours conducting blacking out operations and helping pull apart large fire-affected hay bales using an excavator.
A stop was issued at 5.43pm and the incident was handed back to the landowner.
“The cause was determined to be a farm slasher,” GO Stockwell said.
“Fortunately, the landowner had some heavy machinery on scene including an excavator and water tanker.
“This helped pull apart the impacted bales and effectively douse the fire during blacking out operations.”