The fire at Lake Rowan - Warbys Range area has been contained. 

CFA firefighters have stopped the spread of the fire and activity in the area has subsided. 

Communities should remain vigilant and keep informed of any possible changes to the situation. 

This message applies to the Boweya, Boweya North and Yeerip communities. 

Earlier: FIRES burning near Wangaratta were described as being “relatively well behaved” yesterday but residents have been encouraged to remain alert to any change in conditions.

The CFA has maintained a watch and act caution on the Lake Rowan fire while the Stewarton fire has been scaled back to an advice caution.

Deputy operations officer David Brown said it had been a “lucky day” for fire crews.

“We are a lot happier with where the fire is compared to this morning,” Mr Brown said.

“But, with the watch and act we ask that people monitor their fire ready app, the CFA website and emergency broadcasters.

“While it doesn’t appear to be doing anything at the moment, erratic and changing wind conditions could change the situation.”

More than 40 trees were still burning in the Stewarton fire, along the Midland Highway.

Mr Brown said the trees would take some time to remove and extinguish, forcing authorities to close an eight- kilometre stretch, west of Benalla-Tocumwal Road, possibly until Sunday.

Meanwhile bushfires at West Wodonga and Woomargama that have been contained will continue to be attended by fire crews over the coming days.

A 100-hectare patch of unburnt forest at Woomargama was backburned using air dropped incendiaries and bulldozers were still being used to maintain control lines around the 1200-hectare blaze.

Manager of the Rural Fire Service Southern Border Team Patrick Westwood said River Road had re-opened late yesterday.

“We are not expecting any further outbreaks, but have crews committed for the next few days to black-out the hot spots on the edges of the fire to ensure we can have it out within the next week,” Mr Westwood said.

“All the odds were against us for this fire; it was on difficult terrain with difficult weather, especially on Tuesday afternoon where winds peaked at around 80km/h.

“Just to keep it in that valley where it was is a testament to how good our volunteers are.”

Since the fire started on Tuesday, Mr Westwood said close to 200 firefighters had worked on the fire, with seven air crafts and in more than 60 tankers.

“At this stage there is no threat of any fire crossing the river and if there is a fire outside the burn people should notify triple-0.”

In Wodonga, crews will continue to monitor the fire zone to the city’s west over the coming days.

CFA District 24 duty officer Adrian Gutsche said firefighters would be working around the edge of the fire and putting out burning trees.

“We are saying it is safe, but it will still need monitoring for a few days,” Mr Gutsche said.

“They are finding a few more trees burning with the increase of the wind today.

“People need to be mindful that from time-to-time they may see bits of smoke and fire vehicles.”