FIREFIGHTERS plan to take advantage of milder weather on Friday as bushfires continue to burn in Victoria's north-east.
There was no longer a threat to communities at Creightons Creek near Euroa or Lake Rowan near Wangaratta on Friday morning, after five houses were lost this week.
The Country Fire Authority was still monitoring 11 fires across the region, but warnings to communities were downgraded to advice level.
The Lake Rowan fire was contained to the Warby Ranges National Park, but the Creightons Creek fire continued to burn out of control.
State Control Centre spokesman James Todd said crews would closely watch the eastern side of the Creightons Creek fire near the town of Gooram for flare-ups.
"It's burning in quite hilly terrain which makes it difficult to control," he said.
However, Mr Todd said favourable weather conditions were expected to continue at the weekend, before possible rain on Monday.
"The conditions that we've had both through yesterday and overnight meant that we've really made some great progress and that's why those two fires have been downgraded to advice warnings," he said.
"There may even be a chance of rain on Monday across those fire grounds, so all-in-all the conditions are favourable for getting on top of these fires and we're confident we can do that."
Mr Todd said winds were expected to remain between 15km/h and 25km/h with temperatures in the mid-20s at the weekend.
He said firefighters would spend Friday establishing control lines with the help of water-bombing helicopters.
Lightning sparked 350 fires across Victoria this week.
The Lake Rowan and Creightons Creek fires, which have been burning since Tuesday, claimed houses, livestock, sheds and fences, after burning through more than 10,000 hectares combined.
Another fast-moving grass fire near Heathcote in central Victoria wiped out vineyards on Thursday.
Norbert Baumgartner, owner of the Mia Valley Winery and a CFA volunteer, said the early start to the fire season was not completely unexpected.
"We all knew this was going to be a very bad season, but it started early," he said.
"Everything's bone dry, we've had no rain for months."
