Hine, who lives with his girlfriend Amanda and her family, was evacuated.
"The fires got as close as 50-60 metres away from our front door," Hine told NMFC.com.au.
"We were just hanging around at home, I was playing guitar and mucking around when Amanda's dad Peter came in and said there's a fire in Gisborne that we better keep an eye on. Then we saw our neighbour across the road who is coincidently a fire-fighter, packing up their stuff and he recommended we do the same. So we got the dogs and cats in the car and went for a bit of a drive."
The fire eventually reached Riddles Creek and it was unsafe for Hine and the family to return. They waited in neighbouring suburb Romsey with their two huskies and two cats, not knowing if there'd even be a house to go back to.
"I was reading CFA updates on Facebook and listening to ABC 774. We were stuck in Romsay for about nine hours," Hine said.
"One update would say it was okay, but then it would change just as quickly because of how fast the wind was moving, it just seemed to keep getting worse. We just parked out the front of the supermarket in the shade and tied the dogs up and tried to keep them entertained."
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With girlfriend Amanda at work in Fitzroy, Hine was on the phone all day keeping her informed and trying to remain calm. Football was the furthest thing from his mind.
"Every now and then we would get a little inkling that it wasn't going to be okay but I guess I wasn't really thinking about it. At one stage we saw half the sky filled with a massive big smoke plume...that was when it all felt more real and intense.
"It was pretty surreal, you don't think it's happening and I barely remember the day now. We were literally sitting around for hours doing nothing just waiting to hear what was going on."
Finally they received word it was finally safe to return, but no-one knew what would be left.
"We drove home at about 9pm, they said it was okay to go home but we would have to be careful. On the way back you're thinking 'what if our house is gone?' If worse comes to worse, you just have to start again.
"The CFA did an unbelievable job and thankfully we didn't lose our house. Looking at the pictures of how big the fire front was and how close it got, I don't know how they stopped it really. They kept it back until the wind changed again.
"My thoughts go out to those who did lose everything. It's a terrible situation and there are those still confronting what we went through."
NMFC.com.au understands club legend Glenn Archer and his family were was also evacuated from their property in Warrandyte, but returned to their home late Sunday night.
