Fire threat to remote Vic town eases

People in the remote Victorian community of Goongerah in Gippsland are breathing easier but remain alert to bushfire threat.

Fires burning throughout Victoria's Grampians region

File. (AAP)

The bushfire threat to a remote Victorian community has eased after winds were weaker than expected but a total fire ban remains in place for the entire the state of Victoria.

An emergency warning was issued on Sunday for Goongerah, in the Gippsland region, for a blaze travelling towards the town.

CFA chief officer Euan Ferguson said forecast freshening northerly winds didn't eventuate.

"The fire hasn't moved as much as we had forecast in our worst case scenario predictions," he told the Nine Network on Monday.

The weaker than expected winds gives crews more time to defend Goongerah and surrounding areas and a watch and act warning remains in place.

Mr Ferguson said a forecast wind change on Monday would change the direction of fires and have firefighters on alert.

"Today is a day of change, a day of relatively high risk, that is why we have got a total fire ban for the whole of the state of Victoria," he said.


1 min read

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Source: AAP


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