Ten homes have been destroyed in Victoria's southwest and a community in the north remains under threat from a fire still burning out of control near the NSW border.
A southwesterly change that swept across the state is yet to reach a fire at Barnawartha, where residents of Yackandandah, Wooragee, Leneva and Leneva West are being told to leave immediately.
It's unknown if any homes have been lost in Barnawartha blaze which burned through Sunday.
Ten homes are confirmed lost, with two being damaged and 23 sheds destroyed, by a fire that took residents by surprise at Scotsburn, near Ballarat.
Graeme Baxter from the State Control Centre said the threat to Scotsburn had eased, but the fire had left a big impact on a small community.
"The speed at which this sort of fire can travel can be quite frightening," Mr Baxter said.
Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley earlier said the volatile conditions at Scotsburn caught many off guard.
Three CFA crews, in two separate incidents, were lucky to escape when their vehicles became trapped when a storm cell ran into the smoke plume at Scotsburn, pushing the fire to the west while the winds came from the north.
"That actually caught firefighters out," Mr Lapsley said.
The trapped crews activated the sprinklers over the trucks and huddled under fire retardant blankets until the danger had passed.
It's believed the Scotsburn fire was started by a spark from machinery operating in a paddock.
Mr Baxter said the danger to those near the Barnawartha fire should pass later this evening as the cool change reaches the north.
The change brought relief to much of the state and conditions are expected to settle for the next few days.
"It's time to draw a breath," Mr Baxter said.
"Things will be much calmer and cooler."
The weather is expected to start warming up again on Christmas Day.
However, Mr Baxter said it was too early to say if a total fire ban would stop Christmas barbecue lunches.
Premier Daniel Andrews applauded firefighting efforts and said this weekend was another example of fire crews putting their lives on the line to protect Victorians.
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