Wye River fire contained but rain needed

A bushfire burning on Victoria's Great Ocean Road for 34 days has finally been contained, but torrential rain is needed to extinguish the blaze completely.

The devastating Wye River-Jamieson Track bushfire, which destroyed 116 houses in Wye River and Separation Creek on Christmas Day, burned more than 2500 hectares before it was contained on Thursday.

"This is an extraordinary achievement by our firefighters and volunteers ... who have worked in their thousands, tirelessly, on this fire," Emergency Services Minister Jane Garrett told reporters on Thursday.

But the still-burning bushfire in the Otway Ranges' deep, rugged forest remains a challenge for firefighters, who are relying on heavy rain to finally put out the blaze.

"That type of environment, being so dry, will need significant rain to fully extinguish it," Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley said.

It's likely the contained fire will continue to burn for some weeks but authorities are confident they have enough resources in place to keep it at bay.

"We've still got work to be done. It's halted in its forward spread but it still has hot spots in its key parts," Mr Lapsley said.

Now that the bushfire is contained, authorities will focus on recovery and supporting communities who have lost homes.

Since Victoria's fire season started in October - much earlier than previous years - 141 houses have been destroyed by bushfires, Mr Lapsley says.

AAP jle/al/gb