Farmers band together to plough kilometres of earth breaks ahead of extreme fire day

His property adjoins the Ben Major State Forest which farmers believe could come under threat from the nearby Bayindeen-Rocky Road bushfire on Wednesday when the mercury is expected to hit 37 degrees.

Mr McErvale has joined forces with his next door neighbour, Hugh Briody, to plough a mineral earth line along his western boundary in the event the fire could threaten his property within the next 48 hours.

"It's a combined effort," Mr McErvale said.

"We won't be able to stop it from spotting, but when it comes out of the bush we might be able to pull it up."

His property borders about five kilometres of the state forest, while the mineral earth line will spread over multiple properties in the Chute and Lexton areas and span between 10-15 kilometres on private land.

"We're doing out property, the next neighbour is doing theirs and the neighbour after him has a grader and will be doing the same," Mr McErvale said.

"We're ploughing in an oat stubble so it's been ploughed up before, but our next paddock is an older pasture and I'm not sure how it will plough up, but we'll give it a go.

"I'm using a set of speed discs and the neighbour is going to do the same."

The Bayindeen fire near Beaufort is burning to the north and north-west of the McErvale's property, with a watch and act in place urging people the area is not safe to return to for those who chose to evacuate.

Temperatures in the high 30s have been forecast in the area by the Bureau of Meteorology, along with gusty winds of 60-80km/h on Wednesday, while a catastrophic fire rating is in place for the Wimmera on Wednesday.

Premier Jactina Allan said people in the areas of Ampitheatre, Beaufort, Clunes, Elmhurst, Learmonth, Lexton and surrounds should leave their properties on Tuesday, February 27 or early morning on Wednesday, February 28.

Emergency services said people should not rely on firefighting crews to protect them and their properties, while roads may become blocked in the event the Bayindeen fire grows on Wednesday.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said six houses and 10 outbuildings had been destroyed by the fire.

Chhute and Lexton farmer Hugh Briody owns 1200 hectares next to Mr McErvale's property and said he was "under the pump" on Tuesday morning to prepare for the increase in temperature and wind on Wednesday.

"We've got some more stock that we're getting out of Raglan, putting in these breaks and the getting the livestock ready to lock up close to the yards," he said.

"We've got a few hours in the morning at Lexton to get ready and then we will sit and wait."

It is the second time in five years Mr Briody's property has come under threat, after the 2019 Lexton fires burnt about 300 hectares and 18 kilometres of fencing.

"Two other farms to the west of us and they were putting in breaks, and we thought we would too," he said.

"We'll be doing up to five kilometres of mineral earth breaks, but it could be up to 10-15 kilometres of mineral earth breaks in total.

"If we can coordinate these breaks to link together, it's going to be a huge benefit for tomorrow and potentially for the days and weeks to come while this fire burns."

VicEmergency said people who choose to evacuate their properties should have:

The advice also said: "Before you travel, check that your planned route and destination are not currently under threat from fire. Do not travel into areas of extreme or catastrophic fire danger".

Emergency Management Commissioner Rick Nugent said weather conditions on Wednesday would pose a number of challenges for firefighters.

"The fire is active and ongoing and firefighters have worked extremely hard to contain this fire over the past number of days," he said.

"This fire has the potential to run again."

Fire danger ratings can be checked at the CFA's website.