Victoria fire crews still on alert

Victoria's record-breaking heatwave has eased for some, but the bushfire threat
remains critical across the state even though a major blaze in the state's east has
been contained.
Victorian Premier John Brumby and Emergency Services Commissioner Bruce Esplin on
Sunday appealed for vigilance as the state's north again sweltered in 40 degree plus
temperatures.
"This is not over yet," Mr Brumby told reporters at the firefighters' staging area
in the Gippsland town of Churchill.
"This is still going to be a tough period and we're still going to have to work
together to get through it."
Mr Brumby said the Delburn blaze which has razed more than 6,000 acres near the
townships of Boolarra, Yinnar and Mirboo North in East Gippsland was now largely
contained, while another outbreak sparked by lighting near Licola was still cause
for concern.
Fire authorities confirmed that the Delburn fire claimed 29 houses, 64 sheds, five
cars, a truck and a piggery.
"There are obviously houses lost...so our hearts go out to those who have lost their
homes," Mr Brumby said.
The fires are believed to have been deliberately lit and have been burning out of
control since Thursday.
Milder weather conditions on Saturday and Sunday allowed more than 500 firefighters
to build containment lines around the blaze.
Country Fire Authority (CFA) and Department of Sustainability and Environment
firefighters travelled from around the state, including Geelong and Shepparton, to
battle the blaze.
Mr Esplin said lives may have been lost if the community had not been well informed.
"A number of people chose to depart their properties because they weren't defensible
and we may well have lost lives if people had not been part of that community
education process," he said.
But he said the different agencies involved in fighting the fire would need to
investigate why so many properties had been lost.
Mr Esplin emphasised while the threat may have passed in the Latrobe Valley, the
Licola fire was still a concern as more lightning strikes had been forecast for
later on Sunday.
"There's no room for complacency, it's important that we keep focused on the fire
effort and keep focused on the fact that now the whole of the state will be very,
very dry," he said.
"Our problem is making sure we keep our guard, keep fighting the fires, and prepare
for what is going to be a long, hot remainder of the summer.
Incident controller Alistair Drayton, from the CFA, said the threat to a major
transmission line supplying electricity to Melbourne had passed.
There had been concerns that heavy smoke could cause the power lines to short out,
while containment lines have been built to protect power stations and the Latrobe
Valley open cut coal mine from the Gippsland fires.