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MELBOURNE - Fire crews battling a blaze sparked by lightning in Victoria's northeast will spend today protecting homes as flames lick closer to them.
Several towns are under threat today from the Tatong fire which has burned 15,000 hectares since being ignited by lightning on Thursday.
Fire authorities are advising residents in the areas of Myrrhee, Molyullah, Whitfield and Banksdale , south of Wangaratta, they could come under direct threat.
Residents between Benalla-Whitfield Road and Boggy Creek Valley have also been told to be ready for ember attacks and spot fires if the fire intensifies.
Department of Sustainability and Environment spokesman Pat Groenhout said the fire was very active and producing a lot of smoke.
Mr Groenhout said the threat kept changing with wind shifts and crews were trying to establish containment lines around the blaze.
The fires have already razed a shed in the area in the past couple of days and crews would spend today focused on asset protection, he said.
"(Fire is) very close to properties and has burnt right up to assets in quite a few places and was spotting overnight with the wind," Mr Groenhout said.
Backburning has started on the fire's southern edge and crews are aiming to complete this by tomorrow while conditions are milder.
In Gippsland in Victoria's southeast, a fire near Tambo Crossing, north of Lakes Entrance, has jumped control lines and moved north, but no towns are under direct threat.
Crews, however, are concerned about two outbreaks towards Mt Elizabeth, about seven kilometres east of Tambo which are burning in steep, remote country.
Fire fighters are also trying to control another blaze started by lightning in recent days near the NSW border in the northeast.
The blaze is burning in remote country around Tom Groggin, east of Mount Hotham.
Victoria's fires have torn through 1,002,450 hectares this summer, with four blazes in northeast Victoria and East Gippsland still out of control.
So far, losses include 33 homes, 62 outbuildings, 153 other buildings, 1200km of fencing, three hectares of vineyards, 649 hectares of crops, 1100 hectares of pine plantation and 1000 livestock.
- AAP
