Hundreds of firefighters worked to stop the Bayindeen-Rocky Road blaze west of Ballarat from spreading during Wednesday's catastrophic fire conditions after building containment lines around its 157km perimeter.
A second blaze whipped up by strong hot winds at Dereel near Geelong late on Wednesday prompted a warning for residents to shelter indoors and was deemed under control by early Thursday morning.
Watch and act alerts remain in place for both fires with authorities warning it's still not safe for anyone to return to Dereel, Amphitheatre, Bayindeen, Ben Nevis, Chute, Elmhurst, Eversley, Glenlogie, Mount Cole, Mount Lonarch and Raglan.
The bushfire has burned through about 22,000 hectares of land. (HANDOUT/FOREST FIRE MANAGEMENT VICTORIA)
Some 30,000 people in communities near the Bayindeen-Rocky Road blaze were warned their towns could be at risk and urged to consider leaving the area earlier in the week.Â
Many in the fire danger zones heeded warnings and left by Wednesday morning but some residents stayed to defend their properties.
Residents who do not live in the towns covered by the emergency warning are now able to go home.
State Control Centre spokesman Luke Hegarty told AAP emergency services are now focused on assessing whether any structures were damaged at Dereel but there are no indications property had been lost in any other areas.
He said hundreds of firefighters will work to bring the Bayindeen-Rocky Road, which has burned through 20,000 hectares, under control before conditions are expected to spike again next Wednesday.
A CFA crew enters a paddock outside Beaufort, Victoria. (Con Chronis/AAP PHOTOS)
Cooler temperatures were expected on Thursday following a cool change after Mildura on Wednesday reached the mid-40Cs.
Horsham surpassed 40C and recorded a wind gust of 96km/h after 5pm on Wednesday.
As of Thursday morning, six homes, 84 sheep and two beef cattle were lost to the Bayindeen blaze.
20°C