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Fire officials warn the worst is yet to come for residents who are being threatened by a 170-hectare bushfire burning near West Wodonga, in northern Victoria.
A watch and act message was issued by the Country Fire Authority (CFA) for the blaze, which was burning within containment lines about six kilometres from homes.
It is believed the fire was sparked by lightning on Monday.
Deputy incident controller Tony Long said fire crews had to work very hard to keep the fire within those lines.
Ground crews had been assisted by "significant air resources" including several large fire tankers that flew up from Melbourne.
"On top of that we've got significant issues with trees and embers. The trees are alight," Mr Long said.
"So we're doing a lot of felling of trees within the containment lines."
The weather bureau said the wind change would slowly swing around from the north-west to the south-west, so crews were concentrating their efforts on holding the eastern edge of the fire.
"We're definitely not past the worst [weather]. Right now conditions are still significant," Mr Long said.
"It's predicted at this stage that the strongest winds about 8:00pm, somewhere in the vicinity of 50kph or maybe a little bit more.
"That's an hour or so before dark and that is certainly the critical time for us."
Contingency lines were built outside the containment lines, using graters and heavy machinery in case the fire escaped.
Local residents were doorknocked and the majority of them said they planned to stay and fight.
"What residents have been told is to implement their fire plans and given clear instruction that they need to keep an eye on fire, keep an eye on the weather and implement fire plans," Mr Long said.
Topics: bushfire, emergency-incidents, wodonga-3690
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