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Victoria's firefighters bank on milder conditions to help battle forest fires

Fires burning in remote forested parts of northeast Victoria are being fought with aircraft as authorities take advantage of milder weekend temperatures.

Two large air tankers from New South Wales are assisting with the firefighting effort in Victoria.
Two large air tankers from New South Wales are assisting with the firefighting effort in Victoria. Source: Twitter/vicemergency

Firefighters are hoping mild weekend conditions will help them control blazes caused by lightning in remote patches of forest in Victoria's northeast.

About 30 fires were still burning in Victoria on Friday afternoon, 20 of them located in hard-to-reach forested areas of the state's northeast.

Forest Fire Management Victoria said aircraft including big air tankers from Canberra and Sydney are being used to fight the forest blazes.

CFA firefighters are seen spraying water onto smouldering bushland at Mount Glasgow, Victoria.
CFA firefighters are seen spraying water onto smouldering bushland at Mount Glasgow, Victoria. Source: AAP

"The aim is to get on top of them with the milder conditions," the authority's Hume deputy chief fire officer Aaron Kennedy said.

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More than 50 firefighting trucks, dozers and other heavy plant were also set to work on Friday to build containment lines and deal with dangerous trees.

But the remoteness of the fires isn't making their job easy.

"There is a lot of work to do in very difficult conditions," Mr Kennedy said.

More than 150 blazes burned across the state on Thursday, when record-breaking temperatures and strong winds lashed the state.

The CFA believes lightning or campfires started many of them.

Tom Davies sprays water onto smouldering bushland at Mount Glasgow, Victoria.
Tom Davies sprays water onto smouldering bushland at Mount Glasgow, Victoria. Source: AAP

Melbourne broke a 100-year-old temperature record for November on Thursday, with the mercury hitting 40.9C and creeping well into the 40s in the Mallee region and northern country towns.

Temperatures cooled on Friday, with emergency services now turning their attention to Monday when the temperature and fire risk are set to rise again, a CFA spokesman told AAP.

On Monday temperatures are expected to reach the high 30s in the state's north - the driest part of the state - and 32C in central Melbourne.


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