RHYS SUND was standing on the deck of his house in Chum Creek, near Healesville, when the smoke came.

There were 15 people in the house - seven small children among them - and as the fire came closer, Mr Sund knew they had to get out.

Standing in his boardshorts, he could not have imagined that, only hours later, he would play a major part in a daring rescue of his terrified family and neighbours on the back of a small tractor as the blaze threatened to swallow everything in its path.