Four vic homes destroyed in bushfires 20141218 p5sr1c.html – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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This was published 11 years ago

Weather improves as Victorian bushfires raze five homes

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Fire crews have almost contained two fires in Victoria's northeast which have destroyed five homes.

Fires at Creightons Creek near Euroa and at Lake Rowan, near Wangaratta, are still blazing out of control.

A house was lost at Creightons Creek on Thursday, taking the tally of homes destroyed by fire in the two blazes to five.

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But fears the Creightons Creek blaze would worsen due to windy conditions did not play out late Thursday.

"There's been gusts but they haven't had incredibly strong winds, and they've had some scattered showers," State Control Centre spokeswoman Caitlin Barratt told AAP.

"There were certainly some gusts of wind up to 70km/h through that north central, north east part of Victoria in the fire affected areas, but the winds have remained about 20km/h to 30km/h."

The favourable conditions have let firefighters to almost finish building containment lines around both fires.

Crews will work into the night to make sure the containment lines hold, and stop the fire's spread.

Good firefighting conditions are expected on Friday, with cooler weather and moderate winds.

"There's nothing of great concern from a weather perspective," Ms Barratt said.

Two blazes in the small town of Mia Mia near Bendigo are under control and no longer posing a threat to the community, despite an earlier emergency warning message.

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The fires are being investigated for potential arson.

"That's concerning in the sense that two fires started close to each other within a very similar time," Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley told reporters.

"We hope to think it's not the human hand but that will be investigated to get a conclusion."

Two large air tankers helped contain the Mia Mia fire, saving a house and preventing its run through inaccessible bush land, Mr Lapsley said.

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Five houses have been destroyed - four at Creightons Creek and another at Lake Rowan - but no major injuries or people unaccounted for have been reported.

Power has been restored to properties in northeast Victoria, while three schools have closed and the 47 students have been told they will not reopen until next year because of the fire situation.

More than 350 fires have sparked since Monday, mainly caused by lightning in the state's northeast.

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