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AN emergency alert was last night issued for residents at the foot of the Warby Ranges near Wangaratta.
A CFA spokesman said while the West Wodonga fire had initially been the cause for most concern, the 3500-hectare Lake Rowan blaze was now a point of focus.
Meanwhile, NSW firefighters were struggling to control a bushfire near Woomargama amid fears it would spread over the Border.
It came as a series of fires ignited or continued to burn across the North East and the rest of Victoria following a day of humid weather and gusty winds up to 90km/h.
A Lake Rowan fire began between 4pm and 5pm yesterday, moving quickly through Bungeet and Boweya and was expected to reach the western flank of the Warbys by 7pm.
A CFA spokeswoman said the fire would impact farmhouses in the area and, once it hit the Warbys, would likely start spot fires and start moving uphill quickly.
About 25 tankers were at the scene but air support is limited due to the high level of fire activity across the state.
At Woomargama, four aircraft bombed the Tunnel Road blaze for most of the day but it continued to burn out of control.
Rural Fire Service inspector Margie Wehner said 12 local trucks were tackling the 220 hectare fire.
Most were from local brigades such as Talmalmo but crews from Lavington, Jindera and Thurgoona were also on their way to provide extra support.
With wind gusts peaking at 60 to 70km/h and tipped to get worse, she could not say when the fire would be brought under control.
“Our problem is that the fire is on the north-west side of a ridgeline which runs parallel to a road, and that road also runs parallel to the river,” she said.
“As soon as that fire comes over the top of that ridgeline the embers are going to fly and could start spotting over the Border.
“That’s the last thing we want because, as everybody knows, firefighters on the Victorian side of the river are busy enough as it is.”
Five other significant fires sparked in the Upper Murray yesterday afternoon, or continued to burn under control.
The Department of Environment and Primary Industries attended small fires at Walwa and near Corryong, which were contained by late afternoon.
A small fire at Bullioh’s McCormacks Road was also contained.
A spate of fires around Lurg, near Benalla, were still burning after sparking on Monday but were also under control.