Nursing home exodus 'last resort' as fire cause probed

Nursing home residents could be forced to flee an out-of-control bushfire under a “worst-case scenario” as authorities home in on its cause.

Victoria’s summer bushfire threat has abated with no active emergency warnings on Tuesday after the Walwa and Otways blazes were downgraded to watch and act.

More than 500 structures have been lost in the unfolding disaster that has blackened more than 400,000 hectares.

Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch said 12 major fires continued to burn, sparking 20 watch and act warnings.

“We are in a period where conditions have abated. We expect that to remain the case at least for a couple of days,” he told reporters in Alexandra on Tuesday.

“We know here in Alexandra it is still 30C and there’s breezes ... some of the fires have huge, huge footprints and so it won’t take much for them to move again.”

The Longwood fire in Victoria’s northeast has destroyed 90 homes and grown to 144,000 hectares in size.

The body of cattle farmer Maxwell Hobson was discovered on Sunday near a car along a fire-affected road at Gobur, north of Alexandra and Yarck.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese offered his condolences to Mr Hobson’s family and friends.

“That community will be grieving today,” he said.

The deadly fire is believed to have started from a trailer sparking along the Hume Freeway, a State Control Centre spokesperson told AAP on Tuesday.

But Mr Wiebusch said Victoria Police’s arson squad was still investigating the cause.

“The truck trailer that’s been spoken of is one of many avenues that Victoria Police is asking us to investigate,” he said.

“Until that is complete, we won’t know the cause.”

Darlingford Upper Goulburn Nursing Home in Eildon is close to the fire front.

No decision has been made to evacuate the aged care facility, but Mr Wiebusch said planning was underway for the “worst-case scenario”.

“Moving an aged care facility is a decision of last resort,” he said.

Local volunteer firefighter Cathie Harper said nothing could be done to save her home in Alexandra and she wasn’t sure whether she and her husband would rebuild.

“We’re the only house that’s actually in the town of Alex that burned,” Ms Harper told AAP.

“There’s not a blade of grass on that property that we had not renovated. It was a beautiful home.”

As a Victorian bushfire appeal opened, Premier Jacinta Allan announced a $15 million recovery package to kickstart the clean up.

An initial $10 million has been earmarked to help uninsured and underinsured Victorians remove damaged structures and hazardous materials.

Another $5 million will be spent to waive waste levies in eligible local government areas and fully cover landfill operator gate fees.

The premier said the latest measures, on top of others previously announced, would support the “long” rebuilding journey ahead.

“We have hundreds of structures that have already been lost or damaged, we know that number will grow,” she said.

Agriculture Victoria’s latest figures from Monday night put statewide livestock losses at 16,500, Victorian Farmers Federation president Brett Hosking said.

Most of the losses were sheep, along with about 1000 cattle and smaller numbers of horses and alpacas.

“We’re expecting those numbers will climb particularly in areas like Longwood,” Mr Hoskins told AAP.

“We’ve also seen mature apple orchards destroyed, mature vineyards destroyed. They are livelihoods.

“It’s one thing to think of this year’s crop. We’ve actually destroyed the next three or four years of crop, not to mention the cost of re-establishing.”

Roads remain closed to the public around Alexandra, Yea and Yarck but trucks with donated fodder are being escorted to fire-hit farmers.