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Communities in Victoria are on high alert with more emergency warnings issued today for out-of-control fires. In the west of the state, residents have evacuated, and some are preparing to spend Christmas away from home as firefighters brace for more difficult conditions to come.

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00:00Thick plumes of smoke blow into the air as bushfire moves quickly through the Grampians
00:08National Park.
00:11Residents in nearby areas were forced to flee as winds pushed the blaze north.
00:16We saw the fire grew twice in size yesterday so that was really terrifying and we didn't
00:24hesitate to get out.
00:26The fire was sparked by a lightning strike on Tuesday.
00:29The dry, rugged landscape proving a challenge for firefighters.
00:33When fires start in inaccessible areas we can't get machinery in there, aircraft penetration
00:38from above is limited and fires can get established and that's exactly what's happened here.
00:45It's the second time this year bushfires have threatened communities near the National Park.
00:50In February almost 50 homes were destroyed when fires tore through Pomona.
00:54We went through the fires in February this year and we could see the same thing was going
01:01to happen all over again.
01:02Our place then was quite badly burnt, we lost sheds, fences, tanks and a lot of the vegetation.
01:11It's another blow for a community that relies heavily on tourism but this caravan park 25
01:16kilometres from Halls Gap remains open and it's offering evacuees a place to stay.
01:21We had a few calls for people evacuating Halls Gap because that's being told to leave.
01:26I've had a few people ring up wanting tents and cabins and all that and I'm like yeah
01:32well that's what we're here for, for the community to help them out with that.
01:35There's a separate bushfire burning north west of Melbourne.
01:39Residents in Ballongarook were also told to evacuate.
01:42I've been here for 40 years and this is definitely the closest there's ever been a fire this
01:50size for sure.
01:51Residents now forced to spend their Christmas break deciding whether to stay or go.

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