Residents affected by the devastating Cobaw Ranges blaze have heaped praise on firefighters for going above and beyond in their efforts to protect life and property.
The fire, which has destroyed up to four houses, many sheds, several vehicles, farm machinery and kilometres of fencing, had burnt more than 4000 hectares has yet to be controlled.
Information from the Gisborne control centre shows the active area of the blaze has been reduced to 2700 hectares around Benloch.
Mild weather conditions have allowed authorities to ramp up efforts to backburn and use bulldozers to create a track around the 60km fire.
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Charlotte Burns, who runs Weekaway Recreational Camp in Kitchenhams Lane, said the fire came within 500m of her house.
Buildings at the school camp site were not damaged, but large stretches of fencing will have to be replaced.
“I can’t speak highly enough of the guys and girls in the CFA,” Ms Burns said.
“They’ve been on our property constantly stopping ember attacks … they’ve been absolutely amazing.”
A CFA volunteer was close to tears after repeatedly trying to enter a fire-affected road to check on a resident, who was believed to be in their home, before finding out they were safe.
“They just do whatever it takes,” Ms Burns said.
She said the emotional burden of the week was starting to hit many people.
“I’ve been calm and controlled since Tuesday, but I woke up today and I was really emotional.”
Chris Jolly, who has a house on Feeneys Lane, said he still didn’t know how his property had been affected.
The Lancefield painter has been sleeping on a friend’s couch since the blaze began.
“There’s so much conflicting information,” he said, repeating concerns about a lack of real-time reports about damage to property.
Mr Jolly said he and his wife had decided to move closer to town.
“We can’t do this anymore.”
Authorities hope to control the blaze on Friday. They said they had little confidence in predictions of storm activity heading into the weekend but would continue to check conditions on the hour.
Assessment teams will continue to scour the area, entering affected properties when it is safe to do so.
A government livestock expert told a community meeting that animal losses appeared to have been light compared to other bushfires.
Wildlfe treated
Macedon Ranges Wildlife Network spokeswoman Fiona Corke urged people to look out for injured wildlife.
A ringtail possum was treated by a Romsey vet after running out of the bush on fire.
“It’s not only that many animals will be horribly injured, but there’s been a total loss of habitat,” Ms Corke said.
A phone number has been set up to report animals injured in the fire: 0476 158 080
