Night-time water bombing will again be used to tackle a large bushfire in Victoria's east after firefighters lifted a watch-and-act warning.
The Rosedale fire in Gippsland, which has burned through 11,000 hectares, flared on several southern fronts on Sunday and led to warnings going out to residents in the Stradbroke and Willung areas.
But amid cooler conditions resulting in benign fire behaviour, that alert was downgraded to advice level about 8pm.
The CFA said significant backburning operations would continue throughout the night in the Forrester Track and Swamp Track areas.
Overnight water bombing, which occurred for the first time in Australia on Friday night, will also be used on Sunday night.
Victoria is trialling the use of night fire suppression helicopters, which surveil the fire area in the afternoon before returning to attack the firefront.
"These operations will be easily heard by nearby communities," the CFA warns.
An emergency relief centre is open at Sale Baptist Church, Lot 2 Princes Highway, Sale.
The fire, which had been moving northeast on Saturday, has burned a significant amount of pine plantation.
So far fencing has been the only private property destroyed, authorities say, but there are concerns for native animals in the area.
At one stage on Friday, the blaze turned on about 40 firefighters in a predicted wind change and destroyed a fire truck, trailer and bulldozer belonging to Forest Fire Management.
A review will be conducted into how the firefighters came to be in harm's way.
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