FOLLOW the latest updates from the fire zone and authorities below. As information is available we will publish details in this article page. Keep checking for updates. Reporting by Jessica Evans, Erin Marie, Emma Field, Cimara Pearce, AAP
9.37pm: The town of Licola remains on alert tonight with a massive blaze just 15km from them.
Just 10 residents have stayed in town, along with 28 CFA crews to protect homes and properties over night.
The CFA say it is too difficult to tell if Licola will feel the impact of the looming fires tonight with smoke and spot fires making it difficult to survey the area.
The township remains on a watch and act alert until further notice.
8.20pm: THE Land family faced off a terrifying fire today, coming at them on three fronts, managing to save their rural property from the blaze.
Diane Land, her husband John and their two adult sons Rick and David were able to fend off a fierce fire that has destroyed 95 per cent of their 100 acre farm.
"We had a good view of it coming down the mountain, it came up on us very very fiercely, we pretty much had to wait for the fire to come to us, it was pretty scary, it was too late to run" Mrs Land said.
7.36pm: THE Gippsland bushfires could continue for weeks, authorities have warned.
Incident controller Laurie Jeremiah told a community meeting at the Sale relief centre the current fire was similar to the Licola bushfire which burnt more than a million hectares.
"We are going to be here for a number of weeks this fire is not going to go away, it's a bit like 2006 (bushfires in Gippsland) revisited," Mr Jeremiah said.
"And it's only in the middle of January we have six weeks of summer to go.
"It's really, really dry and until we get some decent rain this issue is not going to go away."
He said evacuated residents may be able to get back to their homes tonight as the threat had passed for Dawson, Cowwarr and Seaton, but the threat remained for the Glenmaggie area.
He said they expected winds to drop to 15km/h from the 50km/h they experienced today, which would assist the fire fighting efforts.
Aerial view: Blaze leaves path of destruction
Fire crews have been kept busy battling a blaze at Dawson. Picture: Nicole Garmston
7.29pm: COOLER conditions and weakening winds are slowing down a massive bushfire burning in eastern Victoria.
A CFA spokeswoman said the Gippsland fire had slowed down this afternoon.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Rod Dickson said favourable weather conditions were forecast for the bushfire-affected areas.
"In terms of bad fire weather, that sort of period has passed,'' Mr Dickson said.
"There's nothing nasty in terms of strong wind changes, it's all pretty settled. We have got more stable conditions coming up.''
Mr Dickson said cooler conditions had hit the region while winds in the area would ease during the evening.
7.01pm: RESIDENT Peetika Hobson, who has lived in Seaton for 30 years, describes the heartache of losing her house in today's fires.
Victorian police say the body of a man has been found in a burnt-out car in Seaton.
"As we were driving back to Heyfield hoping to see if the house was still there, we got a text message from our son that he heard our house had burned down,'' she told Network Ten.
"It becomes quite sad thinking about what you've missed.
"You'll never go home again to the house where your family grew up."
Owners protect pets from fire threat
6.38pm: CFA update on Licola bushfire: "This bushfire is about 48,000ha in size and is out of control, currently creating spot-fires. Licola Road is closed to traffic.
"The fire front is working its way towards Mount Useful and The Springs. It still has the potential to run up into the Macalister Valley."
It urges people to prepare for a bushfire in the area, and check and follow their bushfire survival plan.
This property was destroyed by fire at Seaton earlier today. Picture: Lawrence Pinder
6.33pm: CFA Glenmaggie fire update: This fire is expected to impact Dawson, Glenmaggie, Heyfield, Seaton anytime within the next two hours. This bushfire is now about 48,000ha in size and is being controlled.
6.13pm: POLICE have confirmed an elderly man has been found dead in his burnt-out car in the driveway of his Seaton home. No further information is available at this stage.
5.40pm: THERE are unconfirmed reports that one person has died in Seaton, in Gippsland. More information to come.
5.31pm: INCIDENT controller Bill Johnstone said the Glenmaggie fire could burn for weeks.
"Given the conditions it's probably about as bad as it can get," he said. "We've got a number of concerns about not only the run of the fire today but subsequent days after it, we reckon three days of fairly dynamic fire behaviour we're going to try and stitch this up but we're settling in for a fairly protracted fire fight."
"We could be here for days, possibly weeks."
4.59pm: LOCALS anxiously await fire updates at Heyfield pub after earlier being told they could not return to their homes until later tonight.
A waterbomber fights a fire in Dawson from the air. Picture: Nicole Garmston
GALLERY: See the devastation from the air
PICTURES: The firefight on the ground
One resident said word had trickled in that bushfires may have claimed several homes in the area.
"It's been stressful all day," Seaton resident, who only wished to be known by his first name Peter, said. "The hardest thing was not knowing. I was resigned to the fact that I had lost my house".
Peter has since had confirmation his house is still standing.
Are you in the bushfire region? Submit photos here
4.02pm: CFA warning: The large, fast-moving bushfire in the Glenmaggie area is expected to threaten the Coongulla area for the next four hours until the wind abates.
Fire warnings for Hayfield in Victoria and surrounding areas are very extreme.
This bushfire is approximately 44,500 hectares in size and is out of control.
Members of the public are advised to keep out of the surrounding state forest.
3.57PM: AN emergency warning has been issued in the Glenmaggie/Seaton area as a large, fast-moving bushfire continues to travel in a northeasterly direction.
"This fire is impacting Lake Glenmaggie, Dawson, Heyfield, Seaton NOW," the CFA alert says.
"The bushfire is approximately 44,500ha in size and is out of control, currently creating spot-fires ahead of the fire.
"A wind change is moving the fire in a north easterly direction."
3.14PM: RESIDENTS from towns around Heyfield have been told they will not be able to visit their homes until later tonight.
Many who evacuated to Heyfield earlier today tried to return to Seaton, Glenmaggie or Cowwarr and were told by police they would need a permit.
CFA officials have told residents permits will not be issued until after 5pm.
Cowwarr resident Carole Roberts left her home at 6.45am and was unable to return to meet her 79-year-old husband.
"I packed everything because it was getting pretty hairy," Ms Roberts said.
"I packed the car all night and listened to the radio all night, and then this morning the smoke was really dark so I left."
The couple lost their home in bushfires in 2006 and Ms Roberts was not willing to risk her life when fire threatened today.
She said they were lucky this time after the fire missed Cowwarr.
Fire crews battle a bushfire at Dawson. Picture: Nicole Garmston
"There's a lot of people worse off than us. Some people have lost everything."
2.32PM: THE massive Glenmaggie bushfire has razed more than 44,500ha and continues to threaten towns in Gippsland.
The CFA says the bushfire remains out of control and is igniting spot fires ahead of the main blaze.
Emergency warnings remain in place for the towns of Lake Glenmagie, Dawson, Heyfield and Seaton, which are under direct threat from the fire.
1.09PM: Victorian Premier Ted Bailieu met Fire Commissioner Craig Lapsley and other agency chiefs earlier today to discuss the fires in Gippsland.
"It is a very serious situation in Gippsland as we speak, and no doubt this will move during the course of the day," Mr Baillieu said.
"This fire started yesterday afternoon near Aberfeldy, and with the winds from the northwest it headed in a southeasterly direction and grew in a sausage shape.
Fire ripped through a property on Fogerty Road, Seaton, destroying a shed and vehicles. Picture: Nicole Garmston
"Now with the prospect of a wind change, that sausage shape will be rolling to the northeast which poses a very significant threat to a number of towns.
"This fire has come out of the forests, out of very intense country overnight in darkness and obviously that presents some challenges."
Mr Baillieu said there was a significant threat to many communities in the area including Glenmaggie, Heyfield and Licola.
12.57AM: Seaton resident Mick MacManus has told of his terror at being woken in the middle of the night by the roar of the bushfire.
"I woke up at 2.30am. There was a roar, it was coming over the hill," he said.
"I saw flames at the top of the hill and I heard a lot of explosions of gas cylinders and the like.
"It's a huge big front and came down into Seaton. The house behind me has been flattened."
A home is engulfed in flames at Seaton. Picture: Lawrence Pinder
He said a couple of CFA trucks posted in the Seaton area saved his house but he was now trapped in the town.
11.52AM: HEYFIELD incident controller Laurie Jeremiah told a media briefing that five homes were believed to have been burned at Seaton and a family had been trapped in their house but were able to escape.
Mr Jeremiah also confirmed a fire tanker had been burnt.
The crew members took shelter in the vehicle while the fire went over and escaped unharmed, he said.
The township of Licola, which has only one road in and out, is isolated. Seven residents remain in the town after being advised it is too late to evacuate.
A southwesterly wind change is now moving the fire in a northeasterly direction.The fire is affecting Lake Glenmaggie, Dawson (where firefighting helicopters are fighting the blaze, seen below in this Herald Sun news picture taken today), Glenmaggie, Heyfield and Seaton now.
This bushfire is approximately 25,000 hectares in size and is out of control, currently creating spot-fires up to 8km ahead.
A view outside the front door of a Glenmaggie home as dawn broke this morning. Picture: 54bubble (Leonie Moran)/Twitter
The CFA is advising the fire front was "out of control" and "imminent".
Residents have been urged to evacuate, only if it is safe to do so.
An emergency relief centre has been set up at the Sale Baptist Church. Animals, including horses, can be taken to the centre.
Forty locals have gathered at the Heyfield pub and publican Jeremiah Wallace said Lake Glenmaggie was burning.
11.19AM: Some residents in Glenmaggie are staying to defend their properties, despite fire threatening neighbouring areas.
Glenmaggie resident and operator of the Munjara Outdoor Camp Greg Kaska is staying to defend his home on his own, with the help of a friend from Sale.
"I am confident I will be able to defend the spot fires that may impact, but if there is a running wall of fire there is no way I will stay here," Mr Kaska said.
A property spared from fire between Glenmaggie and Seaton. Picture: Lawrence Pinder
"I am quietly optimistic, but you cannot predict Mother Nature."
11.17AM: AS fast-moving bushfires travelled towards Heyfield in the early hours of this morning, many residents were forced to evacuate to Sale.
Heyfield's Timberline general store owner Troy Akers said while the immediate threat was over for Heyfield, things were looking very grim this morning with a mass exit from Heyfield residents.
Mr Akers said fire trucks had been filling up and heading out to towns that were heavily impacted by fire.
"It was pretty hairy there for a while, plumes of smoke, plenty of ash, fire trucks everywhere. It was looking a bit grim,'' he said.
"Surrounding areas haven't done so well. We packed up the house and cleaned up everything in the store to be ready to leave.
"A lot of people left early in the morning. There was a pretty big exit. It all started falling apart."
Ben May told the Herald Sun how he saw a house in Seaton go up in flames. Picture: Nicole Garmston
Mr Akers said he was at home at his property in Heyfield when he received constant text messages and calls from the CFA telling him to get out.
"There was an early warning system and we all got a phone call saying "pack up and get out". Since then the phones been going off every two seconds."
Heyfield newsagency owner Craig Thatcher said a number of houses had been burnt in Seaton with many Heyfield residents fleeing their properties.
Ben May said he saw a house in Seaton go up in flames.
"We were packed ready to go and we closed the shop for a few hours,'' he said.
"Many Heyfield residents have chosen to evacuate to Sale. We're all right at the moment as the fires seem to be heading a little bit north and we are not under immediate attack.
"The winds picked up a fair bit here and everybody has been waiting to see what will happen."
The view across the lake from the Glenmaggie caravan park. Picture: @ImCaz/Twitter
10.40AM: State Commander John Haynes said it was an "uncanny" fire as spot fires led to it moving more quickly than predicted.
"This fire actually burnt in areas that were burnt in 2007 so it's not large fuel amounts, it's limited fuel, but it ran very hard and it came out about four hours earlier than what we thought," he said.
Authorities have been door-knocking in some communities and have ensured holidaymakers are kept informed.
9.12AM: STAFF at the Licola Wilderness Village say they are calm as they prepare for the fire to possibly hit the town later today.
The village, 254km east of Melbourne, operates a school adventure camp and last night evacuated 61 children and 15 adults.
Staff member Cherry Wake told the Herald Sun the school group would be safely home by now.
"We're following the same reports as everyone else and we're just following our fire plans," Ms Wake said.
"In the village we have about 10 staff and there's about 20 people left in the town."
Licola is said to be cut off.
Ms Wake said about half the people in town were CFA trained and the local brigade's tanker was available.
She said local residents had come in and out of the camp through the morning and most were at their homes preparing for the fire.
Ms Wake lives in nearby Heyfield and said her Mum had evacuated her children so she was not concerned for her own home.
"It's just a house, as long as the kids are OK."
8.47AM: A SALE resident, Ian, has told 3AW he can see masses of smoke and described the conditions as "eerie".
8.30AM: FIRE is said to moving towards Glenmaggie caravan park, and is said to be within several hundred metres.
8.26AM: BEN May was helping his uncle in Seaton and said they left the house at 4am when the neighbouring property was engulfed in flames.
"The house next to us just exploded. The fire went around it and in 10 seconds it was gone. When we left, the fire was around everywhere.
"I don't know how many houses are gone but there are houses all up in the bush. The chance of them being okay is slim and it's too dark for a helicopter."
BEFORE 8AM: THE CFA issued emergency warnings for Glenmaggie and Licola areas in Gippsland.
Licola, 250km east of Melbourne, and the surrounding areas are now surrounded and it is too late to leave as the fast-moving bushfire approaches.
It has just hit Licola Rd.
The fire front is expected to affect Seaton, Dawson, Heyfield, Newry, Toongabbie, Cowwar, Lake Glenmaggie, Glenmaggie from and all adjoining bush areas immediately.
The area is about 200km east of Melbourne.
"These towns are under imminent threat from the fire front," the CFA said.
A CFA spokeswoman said the fire, which started in Aberfeldy in the Baw Baw shire, is now between 8000 and 9000 hectares in size and moving in a southeasterly direction.
The below photograph uploaded by Simon Noble to Instagram shows the red glow of bushfire heading over a hill from Maffra.
6.30AM: CFA state duty officer Gary Weir told 3AW that northern and easterly winds were causing spot fires on populated farm areas.
"Seaton and Dawson are actually just ahead of the Aberfeldy fire which is the main fire front but we're getting spotting into Coongulla, Glenmaggie, Seaton, Heyfield, Glenmaggie Point and localities around those places."
Barry from the Montana caravan park in Glenmaggie said the fire had been burning away from his property but that may change.
"At the moment, it's heading to Glenmaggie and those areas there into Seaton and Dawson which is coming out of the bush onto the private properties now," he said."But what we're waiting for is this wind change. This south-westerly wind change apparently due somewhere between 8am and 10am."
Locals have reported three houses were lost in Seaton and heavy smoke was blanketing the Glenmaggie area.
The photograph above shows CFA crews battling the fires east of Melbourne. Picture: Brodie White/Instagram
6AM: HEYFIELD Mobil service station owner Allison Akers said families had been fleeing the area since 6am.
"It is pretty scary, we have had locals come in and say they have lost their homes already," Mrs Akers said.
"A lot of people with their families are heading out, the CFA went through Glenmaggie last night to say 'get out'.
"There are a lot of homes out there, it is really bad."
3AM: SPOT fires started in Coongulla, Glenmaggie, Heyfield and Newry at 3am, earlier than experts had predicted.
Residents have been warned to activate their fire plans.
An emergency relief centre has been set up at the Sale Baptist Church.
Total fire bans have been declared in the Northern County, North East, East Gippsland and West and South Gippsland districts.
The raging fire at Donnellys Creek, near Aberfeldy, consumed 1500ha in a matter of hours yesterday.
The blaze forced the emergency evacuation of 61 children at a holiday camp in Licola before the CFA advised the tiny town's population of 21 to evacuate homes last night.
Pakenham was also on high alert late yesterday as more than 50 firefighters battled a series of blazes, now under control, including a major bushfire that threatened homes.
That fire, which began just before 4pm, was out of control as it burned in a southeast direction towards houses that were under threat for more than an hour.
The CFA diverted water trucks from other blazes to protect the properties.
Investigators last night were trying to find the cause of fires that began in the Army Rd and Reynolds Rd area at Pakenham.
CFA operations manager Trevor Owen said authorities believed some of the fires may have been deliberately lit.
The latest fires came as Victoria again endured high temperatures and wind gusts of up to 50km/h yesterday.
The highest temperature was recorded in Hopetoun which reached 45.4C at 4.30pm.
The city hit a top of 40.8C.
Geelong hit 35.4C while Frankston suffered a sweltering 36.7C in the afternoon.
STAY SAFE
The Herald Sun has joined with fire authorities to keep Victorians informed. Check out the Bushfire Ready page for the latest advice, warnings and videos from the CFA. This page is updated with the latest warnings from across the state. Save it to your bookmarks. You can access it from our homepage (click on Bushfire Ready) from any computer. This service is not available on smart phones.
Check live weather information - including fire warnings - on your computer AND smart phone at our Weather page. Just add m.heraldsun.com.au to your smart phone bookmarks and follow the View weather forecast link.
The CFA has a live fire map. Check it out here and add to your bookmarks.
The Herald Sun will keep you informed throughout the heatwave. Check back regularly for weather information, reader photos and fire warnings on your PC and mobile. Reports and alerts will also be posted to our Facebook page and from our official Twitter account.
For general bushfire information
Stay informed
- ABC Local Radio, commercial and designated community radio stations or watching Sky News TV
- Deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech/communication impairment can contact VBIL via the National Relay Service on 1800 555 677
- Road closures: Check www.vicroads.vic.gov.au
- Tourists: Stay away from listed areas
- For life or property threatening threatening emergencies: Phone 000
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