Bushfires in Victoria, Australia

Victoria Bushfires: Bushfire 

under control after 

threatening communities in 

south-west

The watch-and-act area in the state's south-west.

the Age,

20 April, 2016

Firefighters have stopped the spread of a fire that was earlier threatening communities in Victoria's south-west.

The threat level for the Hotspur area fire, near the Victoria -  South Australia border, has been downgraded from a watch and act to an advice.  

"There is currently no threat to communities, but you should continue to stay informed and monitor conditions," the CFA advised shortly after 5pm.

Communities that need to remain on alert include Hotspur, Lower Crawford, Glenaulin and Greenwald East.

"Firefighters are responding to a fire in the Hotspur area and have stopped the forward spread of the fire. Work is continuing to contain the entire fire boundary," the CFA stated.

The CFA had earlier feared the fire could "impact houses north of Hotspur in the Mill Road and Boulevard Road area."

Almost 30 CFA trucks and seven air assets are working to bring the blaze under control.

Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning state agency commander Andrew Graystone said fire conditions in the area severe.

"There is a fair bit of wind, we have got a very high fire danger rating. The winds are averaging about 30-35 kms per hour, from the north. It's warm, it's windy," he said earlier.

"And it's very dry down in that part of the world, they are in significant  drought."

Mr Graystone said the fire started in private pine plantations near Hotspur.

The temperature in Hotspur reached 29.5 degrees at 3pm, the forecast daily maximum. Wind and temperature are expected to moderate into the night.

Hotspur is close to Victoria's border with South Australia and sits near a large pine plantation and state forest.

Mill Road and Boulevard Road, where the fire was previously expected to impact between 5pm and 7pm, have been highlighted in red on the map below.