The blaze, sparked by a lightening strike, destroyed 1216 hectares of land near Cavan and started at around 2pm on Tuesday. It was declared fully contained around 24 hours later and downgraded to 'patrol' yesterday morning.

Land near Mountain Creek Road and Glenrock Road copped the brunt of the damage, and both were closed not long after the fire started.

Mr Buckmaster said the blaze devastated a large part of his 'Roseville' property but, importantly, he's found no dead sheep.

"We lost about 1000 acres (404 hectares) but the biggest relief is that we haven't lost any sheep.

"I was able to get a fair few in a shed away from the fire but there were more that I couldn't get to yet somehow they survived. I have no idea how but they did, I was defintely lucky."

He said the cost of losing that land would be significant, but it was too early to put a specific number on it.

"I'm not sure exactly how much losing all that feed and fencing is going to cost us but at the moment all we can do is monitor it and make sure nothing flares up again."

RFS Southern Tablelands Zone Manager Peter Alley admitted he was surprised at how big the fire got.

"It was probably a little bit more serious than I initially thought but all that goes back to the wind.

"If there was no wind, the fire would have been small ... and the wind was changing so often that it made it even more difficult for the firies."

He said he was more than happy with the response from the volunteers.

"Many brigades worked all night and there will be more here tonight (Wednesday) as well, just checking on things and making sure nothing sparks up.

"As usual everyone worked well together and things operated smoothly."

RFS Superintendent Peter Dyce said while the status had been downgraded to 'patrol', units would continue to work at the site well into the weekend and possibly next week.

"Basically we'll be sending units out there until we get some solid rain," he said.

"That could be this weekend, that could be next week, that could be even longer but that's what we have to do."

Mr Buckmaster said he's already been flooded with offers from people who want to help out.

"The support we've got already after just two days is overwhelming, it means a lot."