Firies hope to contain Vic bushfire

Firefighters hope soon to contain a bushfire in a dry lake bed in Victoria's northeast.
The fire is burning in the bed of Lake Mokoan, near Benalla, about 200km northeast
of Melbourne.
The Country Fire Authority (CFA) issued a warning to residents in the Winton North
and the Lake Mokoan area at about 4.30pm (AEDT) on Monday.
A CFA spokesman said the 580-hectare fire was considered large and was travelling in
a south easterly direction.
"The fire has been kept to the lake bed, and we are confident that it will be
contained between 7pm and 8pm," the spokesman said.
Thirty tankers, backed by two water-bombing aircraft, three bulldozers and two
graders have led the attack on the fire.
The fire is close to the towns of Winton North and the Hume Freeway, but no property
is under threat at this stage, and the freeway remains open despite smoke in the
area, the spokesman said.
The lake, formerly a natural wetland, was dammed for irrigation supplies in the
early 1970s but it was decommissioned by the Victorian government and drained
several years ago.