On the eve of the 10th anniversary of a near-disaster on Hobart's eastern shores, firefighters have reflected on the "miracle" constant wind that saved lives and hundreds of homes from a fiery fate.

It was October 12, 2006, when the blaze, started by a group of children playing with fireworks in Risdon Vale, was compounded by high temperatures and winds, and low humidity.

The scale of the event was captured in an iconic image that showed bushland ablaze behind thousands of homes — a reminder to residents of how close they came to devastation.

The anniversary also prompted a fire ecologist to issue a warning for the community, which he said was not keeping up with the need for fire mitigation practices.

First arrivers recognised danger

Frank McGrath was the Mornington Acting Station Officer on the day of the fire, and was with the first crew at the scene.

"We had only gone a few hundred metres along the East Derwent Highway when we saw a large cloud of smoke," he said.

"I knew immediately that it was going to be one of those days and I called for back-up straight away."

Mr McGrath said the blaze quickly spread from the Meehan Range to Mt Rumney.

"The only reason it did not have a bigger impact was because the winds were north-westerly," he said.

"It had the potential to clean up probably 700 houses. If the wind had ... changed it would have just ripped straight through the backs of those houses — and you can't stop that sort of thing."

"We were blessed really; it could have been a whole lot worse."

Sorry, this video has expired Firefighters thought the worst had come ( Rhiannon Shine )

Jock Campbell was the Clarence mayor at the time and immediately feared the worst.

"The general manager called me and told me that we had a potential disaster on our hands," he recalled.

"It could have been a major disaster. We were very lucky."

Community 'lagging' in fire mitigation

Fire ecologist David Bowman said although governments and fire authorities had come a long way in terms of fire mitigation, it was the community that was lagging.

"The concern for everybody in the fire management game is that our luck can't hold, statistically we are going to see some bad events [in Hobart]," he said.

"My concern is that the community has not understood the warnings we have been given from these dangerous events, like the 2006 event.

"It just boggles my mind that you could be living in a place like Hobart and the community isn't agitating for more mitigation to reduce the risk of bushfire.

"There is very good advice, very good science, there is interventions by the Government. They are all necessary, but they are not sufficient.

A massive fireball, pictured approaching Dunalley in 2013, destroyed many buildings, including the school. ( Michael Goldsmith: Tasmania Fire Service )

"The thing that is going to make or break the safety of Hobart is actually how individual people behave."

Professor Bowman predicted a hot summer with "several total fire bans" and "probably some pretty challenging fire events".

He said there was the potential for a Fort McMurray-scale fire disaster in Hobart, where wildfire destroyed about 2,400 homes and buildings in Alberta, Canada.

"The very worst-case scenario is catastrophic," he said.

"I'm just hoping that each year as we are given our warnings, the groundswell in the community will build to actually get on top of this problem. Because if we don't, we're going to get kicked in the teeth."