HE'S usually part of a team saving other people's homes and properties, but the shoe was on the other foot for Warwick firefighter Brad Davie, as a large bushfire threatened his home and his family.

More than 20 fire and emergency crews responded to the blaze, which started in a dense area of bushland near Ranger Rd on Sunday morning.

Mr Davie (pictured) said it was lucky he was home.

"We saw the smoke and I went to check it out,” he said.

"At that point it was 2-3km away, but by the time I got back to the house it was right on us.

"It got very big, very quickly.”

At one point, despite the quick response from rural fire units, Mr Davie said he and his young family made preparations to evacuate their property.

"I've fought a lot of fires, so usually I'm on the other side of things, but this was something very different.

"It's your family in harm's way, so it was a very different perspective - there's more at stake when it's your property that's burning.”

Despite the threat Mr Davie said the fire was treated like any other.

"We certainly dodged a bullet here but it's all thanks to some very good work from the fire services all round, as well as the SES,” he said. "It's really good to see all the agencies pulling together and working well as a team.

Having only moved into the Ranger Rd in the past few months, one of the first things Mr Davie did was clear around the house and shed to make the house less vulnerable should a bushfire approach.

"This is something we're forever telling people about bushfire preparation, and I guess this shows how crucial it is,” he said.

"Make sure the yard is free of debris, clear the gutters of leaves, have water on site if possible and make sure there is room to get trucks in if needed.

"What was really good here on Sunday as well was how the neighbours all worked together, we kept in constant contact and kept an eye out for each other, which is really important at a time like that.”

Mr Davie's 17-year-old son Tyler said it was humbling to see so many people giving up their Sunday to save other people's houses.

"It got really intense there for a while,” he said.

"I guess we're lucky that wind died down when it did, which allowed the Freestone 51 rural crew to back burn away from the house, toward the fire, which had got to within about 40m of the yard. A few fences have burned out and we had to cut a few down so the rurals could grade a path through.

"But that's all a small price to pay to save the house.”

By Monday morning the fire had been contained but fire crews remained diligent, checking the area to keep on top of potential flare-ups.

Complacency could be the biggest challenge to preventing dangerous bush fires, warned Rural Fire Service area director Tim Chittenden.

"We're starting to come back into a really dry period where we're getting more fires,” Mr Chittenden said.

"This fire was a warning of the sort of thing we're coming into and how easily fires can start when the conditions are right.

"We are trying to tell people not to be complacent about the conditions and making sure they are observing all the right rules when it comes to permitted burns.”

The cause of the fire is being investigated.