Residents in western Victoria around the Grampians remain on high alert under an emergency warning.
Meanwhile, two other separate bushfires – at Bullengarook in central Victoria and The Gurdies in South Gippsland – have been downgraded to watch-and-act level.
Authorities have warned conditions can change quickly and for residents close to bushfire areas to remain vigilant.
Victorian emergency services have issued “leave immediately” warnings for more towns threatened by the Grampians bushfire, including Halls Gap, as other blazes burn out-of-control in the central and eastern parts of the state.
With 28,000 hectares consumed by the fast-growing Grampians fire on Saturday morning, emergency warnings are in place for communities affected by a southerly wind change overnight.
Two other bushfires – at Bullengarook, north-west of Melbourne, and The Gurdies in South Gippsland – have been downgraded to watch-and-act level.
Emergency warnings were in place for Mafeking, Watgania, Bellfield, Halls Gap, Lake Fyans and Pomonal on Saturday morning, with authorities warning it could burn for weeks.
The fire has almost tripled in size in the past 24 hours. Holidaymakers are urged to stay away. Grampians National Park is closed.
On Friday night, Michael Gunning from the Horsham Incident Control Centre, said the bushfire started by lightning on Monday was spreading.
“The fire’s grown exponentially this afternoon under severe fire conditions and …continues to burn out of control,” he told ABC Radio Melbourne.
“This is a very big fire, it’s changing very rapidly.
“This afternoon the smoke column rose really rapidly up into the atmosphere and made it really unsafe for planes to fly in close to where this fire was.”
Mr Gunning said there were now hundreds of firefighters working on the Grampians blaze.
A relief centre has been set up at Alexandra Oval Community Centre on Waratah Avenue, Ararat.
Watch-and-act alerts are in place for Jimmy Creek, Mirranatwa, Bornes Hill, Grampians, Victoria Valley, as well as Barton, Jallukar, Moyston and Millaura North.
In Melbourne, the skyline turned orange on Friday afternoon, with the Bureau of Meterology confirming smoke from the Grampians was causing the unusual hue.
Photo (Supplied: Adrian Field)
