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Victorians seek refuge from fires

Relief centres opened up overnight for regional Victorians needing a safe place away from the threat of bushfires.

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Source: AAP


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Hundreds of people have sought refuge from Victoria's bushfires at emergency relief centres.

About 150 people spent the night at a relief centre at Wallan after fleeing from the Mickleham fire on Melbourne's northern outskirts.

The fire has spread towards the Kilmore area with Mitchell Shire Council mayor Rodney Parker and his family among those to leave their homes amid emergency warnings on Monday morning.

"I think we had about 150-odd that stayed through the night," Mr Parker told Fairfax Radio.

"We spent most of the night blowing up air beds so that people had somewhere to sleep."

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More than 200 people had registered but not all chose to stay overnight, Mr Parker said.

Department of Human Services spokesman Geoff Russell said nine municipalities have opened 16 relief centres across the state.

Mr Russell said the emergency centres were housing a combination of locals forced to leave their homes and visitors who were unable to move on due to road travel restrictions.

The Department of Human Services said the relief centres would eventually transition into recovery centres in a seamless operation once the fire danger subsides.

The Latrobe City Council is operating relief centres for fire-affected residents in the Latrobe Valley.

Council acting CEO John Mitchell said hundreds of people had sought help from the relief centres with 431 people registered at a Moe shelter and 200 accommodated overnight.

In Traralgon, 229 people had registered with 59 housed at that shelter overnight.

Federation Uni in Churchill accommodated 48 people on Sunday night while four stayed at Centenary House in Traralgon.

Preschools, maternal and child health facilities in Latrobe City have been closed.


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