Mrs Whybrow and her family had escaped with just minutes to spare on Tuesday, when flames from the Greta fire tore through paddocks opposite their Harper Street property, on the edge of town.

They stood in their street less than 24 hours later and watched as RFS and aerial bombers fought the fire that had flared up again around midday, which led to the alert level being raised to 'watch and act'.

Related: Harper Street Greta blaze downgraded

"We're getting ready to do it all again," said Mrs Whybrow, a nurse.

"It's scary, really scary.

"We were getting pet food down the road and rushed home because my daughter was here on her own.

"The police had shut the road but I said 'We have to get in'."

The Whybrows have been in their home for seven years, but are thinking of relocating.

"We had thought 'This is semi rural, we have kangaroos and wallabies here, kookaburras on the fence and wild rabbits'," she said.

"But I want to move back to the city. We have a block in Lochinvar where we're building and it's not in a bushfire prone area."

Mrs Whybrow said she considered herself lucky to have had her front door open on Tuesday afternoon and for "deciding to stickybeak" when she smelt smoke.

She saw smoke at the end of her short street and warned her neighbour.

She said it took about two minutes to go to her house and for her and her husband Jamie to load their three children, five dogs and cat into their packed cars. They couldn't find their second cat.

"I said 'We're not dying for a cat, just get into the car," she said. It survived.

"By the time I backed out the fire had moved from down the street to out the front of the house.

"Embers and ash was blowing everywhere.

"I've never been so terrified."

The police arrived to evacuate the street as they left.

They drove to Greta Oval, where they stayed for about four hours.

She said her neighbour returned to the street and told them that while half their backyard was scorched, it was safe to come home.

"We have fire lectures at work and they say you've got seconds before a fire can move, not minutes, and it's right," she said.

"The winds were so strong.

"I did not think fire could travel that fast.

"And it's not just the flames you have to think about - it's the embers too. That's what lit up our backyard. You have to look at everything."

She said she and her family were counting their blessings.

"It's all thanks to the firies and planes - they got here pretty damn quick," she said.

"They're all volunteers - some were from Victoria.

"I hugged and kissed them all and told them they were angels in orange for saving our home."

Housemates Tim Southam, Courtney Gilroy and Brock Draper were hosing down their hedge and home as they watched the billowing smoke.

They said they had turned on their backyard sprinklers to cool their gas bottles, which they'd placed in the shade.

"We're just trying to make sure that if embers do come across and hit anything dry or dead that it's too wet to ignite," Mr Southam said.

"We're just watching and waiting. If the cops come by and say get out we're all good, we've got our bags in the car."

Mr Draper, who had been home alone on Tuesday when police evacuated the street, said his level of concern was about a four out of ten, compared to the day before when he was "shaking like I had MS and Parkinson's put together".

John Brittin and his wife Alison almost lost their house on Tuesday and the fire returned to threaten their property.

Ms Brittin hosed down the roof of the couple's house as large fixed-wing firefighting aircraft made passes overheard.

Watching on as aircraft dumped retardant nearby, Mr Brittin said the couple was lucky their property is the last in the street to be on town water.

Feeling a little more at ease today, Mr Brittin said "there's nothing left to burn around here now anyway".

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