While the weather has been cooler in the past few days, firefighters have spent time conducting burning out operations to strengthen containment lines.
The fire started along the side of the Hume Fwy in the Longwood area on Wednesday, January 7.
By 4pm on Thursday, January 15, the State Control Centre was still reporting that 136,000 hectares had burnt in the fire.
Fire warnings have been downgraded slightly for the fire in recent days, but as of 11.30am on Thursday, January 15, VicEmergency still had ‘Watch and Act’ notices for people to monitor conditions as they were changing in the Ruffy, Longwood East, Yarck, Eildon, Alexandra, Yea and Tarcombe areas, as well as the Ancona, Fawcett, Kanumbra, Merton and Woodfield areas.
The alerts said many roads in the area had been impacted and damaged trees were continually falling across roads, and people who were not local to the area were being urged to stay away.
For the most recent road closures, check the Vic Traffic website at traffic.transport.vic.gov.au
A boil water notice for Longwood and Longwood East was introduced on the weekend; however, both were lifted at 2pm on Thursday, with the water being declared safe to drink.
In the meantime, the devastation of the Yarroweyah fire from last week is now being seen.
The fire, which started on Friday, tore through a narrow path along Tocumwal-Benalla Rd, through the Yarroweyah, Muckatah and Katamatite areas, ultimately destroyed 12 homes and 26 farm sheds.
On Wednesday, police said they were investigating the circumstances surrounding the fire, which broke out near the intersection of the Murray Valley Hwy and Benalla-Tocumwal Rd at Yarroweyah just before 12.45pm on Friday.
Although the fire is not believed to be suspicious, it is still being investigated by police.
Police are appealing for anyone who may have information or dashcam footage in the area between noon and 12.55pm to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at crimestoppersvic.com.au
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