Despite cooler conditions, Victoria’s bushfire emergency is far from over, with out-of-control blazes still threatening communities. So far, the fires have burned through more than 15,000 hectares and destroyed at least three homes. Victorians are being warned the state could face another series of high fire danger days soon.
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00:00 Aircraft after aircraft dump swimming pools worth of water on a third difficult day, racing
00:10 to contain an enormous fire that's already razed at least three homes and decimated farmland.
00:17 I think everything's pretty much been burnt to some degree.
00:21 The blaze in Victoria's west has blackened nearly 16,000 hectares.
00:27 Emergency warnings for nearby areas like Bayondean, Chute and Elmhurst were downgraded in cooler
00:34 temperatures and lighter winds this morning.
00:37 But the battle is far from over.
00:39 There is a very wide fire front that remains very active.
00:45 The Premier had an eagle eye view of it today.
00:48 On the ground, residents are being told it's not safe to return.
00:54 Dozens of people crammed pets and prized belongings into their cars and fled days ago.
01:01 They now face another night in relief centres and an anxious wait to return.
01:06 That's the worry, because it's on your mind all the time, wondering what's going on and
01:12 asking people all the time.
01:13 At this stage we still know nothing, so it's a little bit stressful and we've left a lot
01:17 of animals behind.
01:18 The fire front is just on the other side of this range and locals here who decided to
01:23 stay have told me there was a barrage of helicopters and aircraft last night dropping water and
01:30 retardant as emergency services try to bring this blaze under control.
01:35 Teams are working hard to establish containment lines, but it will take time and there's more
01:41 bad weather ahead.
01:42 The fire will not be completely contained by Wednesday.
01:45 Early forecasting says parts of the state could face their worst fire day in four years.
01:52 We are looking at a very, very difficult and dangerous day ahead on Wednesday.
01:57 Prompting a now familiar warning to get prepared.
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