MELBOURNE - Air crews will today join about 250 firefighters battling a large blaze burning west of Melbourne.
Firefighters worked tirelessly through the night to control the fire which has destroyed about 400 hectares of grass and bushland at Morrisons, a small community near Ballarat.
Crews from theCountry Fire Authority and Department of Sustainability built control lines around the blaze to try and contain it ahead of today's extreme weather conditions, CFA spokeswoman Adele Buhagiar said.
A community meeting will be held this morning at 11am (NZT 1pm) at the Railway Hotel in Elaine.
Residents in Morrison are still on alert but no property losses have been reported, Ms Buhagiar said.
The extreme heat and high winds are set to further test Victoria's firefighters today.
A total fire ban is in force across the state until midnight tonight.
Temperatures are tipped to hit 40 degrees for the second day running in many centres.
The Bureau of Meteorology has also issued a severe weather warning covering most central and southern districts for north to north-westerly winds of 40 to 60km/h, with gusts up to 90km/h ahead of a cool south-westerly change in the afternoon.
