Victoria's FireReady phone app has come under fire for giving residents information about bushfires that don't exist.
As an example, Redesdale residents received messages on Wednesday night that an out-of-control fire was 3.5km away, when in fact there was no fire within 20km.
Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley says the app logs all information from triple zero calls.
It means a dust cloud could be logged as a fire if a caller mistakenly reports that.
Mr Lapsley says it's important people get the earliest possible information, but it's difficult to do with 100 per cent accuracy.
"As a fire is reported we put it out there, but it might not be in the exact location and therefore people would say it is inaccurate," he told Fairfax radio on Friday.
Warnings stay on the app for a default six hours, meaning people who think they're in the path of a blaze don't find out the danger is over for a lengthy period of time.
"We need to make sure that our controllers actually intervene into the automated system and say that it has to be pulled down earlier," Mr Lapsley said.
Emergency Management Victoria says it will look into the app, operated by the state government, and investigate how it can be managed more effectively.
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