When the bushfire came to Woolooga, Ilse Heidegger was alone.

What you need to know The fire began last Wednesday and burned through 10,000 hectares of land

The fire began last Wednesday and burned through 10,000 hectares of land More than 130 emergency services crews fought the fire

More than 130 emergency services crews fought the fire QFES crews are continuing to monitor the bushfire, which is now burning safely within containment lines

From her home near the south-east Queensland town of just over 100 people, she could see the flames and smoke in the distance but after updates from the fire services and SES, she was not too fearful.

While on a quick trip into town, Ms Heidegger noticed the enormous plumes of smoke rising in the direction of her house.

Returning home, she watched from her deck as the small flames in one corner of the landscape rushed "like a freight train" across the horizon.

A 'primal sense of fear'

A wall of fire rushed towards her, burning pastures and consuming livestock.

"What concerned me — I saw cattle running ahead of the flames," she said.

"It was no longer coming from one corner — it was now 180 degrees and coming.

"I was running around with little sprinklers trying to wet the grass."

"Squalls of smoke" raced towards Ms Heidegger as the fire bore down on her property. ( Supplied: Ilse Heidegger )

Ilse Heidegger and Pieter Olivier on the deck of their home, just 100 metres from where the fire was stopped. ( ABC Sunshine Coast: Owen Jacques )

As she faced the approaching inferno on Thursday morning, Ms Heidegger's husband Pieter Olivier was in a meeting in Perth.

He knew the danger of the situation and communicated with Ms Heidegger on FaceTime.

From 4,000km away, he guided her on how to start a leaf blower and watched her dart around their 100 hectare property using the Find My Friends app.

From her deck on Friday night, Ms Heidegger laughs: "there is no privacy".

At the time, she was trying to retrieve and save her own 70 head of cattle, as well as the neighbours' livestock that were fleeing the flames as waterbombing helicopters attacked the blaze.

"I was feeling quite optimistic with these two helicopters — they're fighting the good fight for me," Ms Heidegger said.

"But it became obvious with the wind, they weren't winning the battle.

"I called 000 — I could see the fire was probably 200m from my home and it was roaring — the fire was roaring."

It would stop just 100m from their homestead.

Waterbombing helicopters attacked the blaze as Ms Heidegger tried to save her own cattle, and her neighbours' livestock. ( Supplied: Ilse Heidegger )

"It almost induces a primal sense of fear," Ms Heidegger said.

"As far as your eyes can see, there are flames. There are blowing squalls of smoke and it's all racing towards you.

"I never anticipated such an event and speaking to local folk, they've never seen [anything] like it before."

By Saturday morning, the fire had consumed 10,000 hectares of land. About 65 of those belong to Ilse Heidegger and Pieter Olivier.

More than 130 officers from police, fire and ambulance doubled Woolooga's population in an effort to save the town.

People in town are talking with surprise that Woolooga survived.

The leaf blower

On the phone to Ms Heidegger from Perth, Mr Olivier made a surprising suggestion.

In her attempts to rescue her cattle, Ms Heidegger used a leaf blower to fight the flames. ( Supplied: Ilse Heidegger )

He said their leaf blower could help fight the fire and that the volume of air could create a vacuum that starved the flames of oxygen.

The only hurdle was that Ms Heidegger had never used the leaf blower. So with flames ripping through their paddocks, Mr Olivier taught her by phone.

With the homestead no longer in urgent danger, Ms Heidegger set about finding her cattle.

"I realised my cattle were trapped and possibly dead — that was one of those heart-clenching moments."

On horseback, she galloped around the property to do "reconnaissance".

The cattle were trapped behind a low wall of fire, and refused to cross.

Ms Heidegger rushed home, picked up the leaf blower, and drove back to her cattle.

"With a lot of prayers, I got this blower started," she said.

"I felt for the first time I was doing something to fight the fire.

"I managed to kill off that blaze and got the cattle to follow me."

With her livestock by the house, they were safe.

The fire was bad. This was worse

With Mr Olivier now home, having arrived at 2am on Friday, it was time to assess the damage.

The pair travelled up and down their property, gauging the destruction — both of property and livestock.

The old ute left on a paddock with the broken clutch cable somehow survived.

But fences, beloved trees, critical grazing pastures and some livestock were not so lucky.

For Ms Heidegger, the day the fire threatened their home was hard. But this was harder.

The bushfire claimed livestock and property. ( Supplied: Ilse Heidegger )

"The aftermath of dealing with the emotional impact of these animals that are so trusting — I led them to safer pastures and they followed me in their own way as best they could.

"It was a more traumatic day for me today then possibly what I experienced yesterday.

"There are calves that have lost mums. They need to be bottle fed.

"We need to find feed for these animals."

The neighbour's cattle had been scorched by the fire — 17 had to be euthanased.

But it was a grim discovery in the blackened paddocks that caused Ms Heidegger "a bit of a breakdown".

The fire had burned so hot that calves had lost the walls of their hooves.

"These babies were burned so badly they have lost their casings — there's no way they can walk.

"The fear they would have experienced, that really brought it home for me.

"Seeing these symbolic hoof casings, of what they have gone through."

The aftermath of the fire on Mr Olivier and Ms Heidegger's property in Woolooga. ( ABC Sunshine Coast: Owen Jacques )

'This is still the life I'd choose'

Pieter Olivier and Ilse Heidegger talk about emergency services who saved their home as "saviours" and "angels".

They both know how vulnerable their home and property was, and could be again, if they continue to go without rain.

But even as they grapple with the past few days, both say Woolooga is where they want to be.

"You can never imagine that a fire can go so quickly and destroy so much in so little time," Mr Olivier said.

"When the first rain comes and this land recovers, that's when the joy comes back, especially after the drought."

"This is still the life I'd choose," Ms Heidegger said.

"It's extremely rewarding, it's extremely challenging, you definitely know you're alive.

"You have to find a way to work with nature, and fires and floods are part of nature."