A plea has been made to North East residents who holiday in East Gippsland not to make a rash decision and cancel their trips this summer due to fires impacting the major traffic route to the area.
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The Great Alpine Road is closed between Ensay and Bruthen after fires spread early on Saturday morning leading to power being cut to the area.
The Environment Protection Authority also issued an air quality warning for North East residents on Sunday, caused by smoke coming from the fires south of Mount Hotham.
More than 1100 homes and businesses in Omeo and surrounding towns have been without power since 2.30am Saturday when conditions worsened and the fires grew dramatically in size with one blaze making a 25-kilometre run fanned by north-westerly winds.
Generators were being transported to the area from a depot at Bright on Sunday morning with the aim of restoring power later today.
Power began being restored in the area around 7.45pm.
East Gippsland MP Tim Bull said safety remained the number one priority, but urged people who visit popular Gippsland Lakes tourist places including Lakes Entrance, Metung and Paynesville to still come during the holiday period.
"Please don't cancel your holidays unnecessarily," he said.
"We are heading into the fourth year of drought and we need visitors into our region because in drought it is not only our farmers, but also our small businesses who are suffering.
"One way you can help us is by coming.
"But of course stay vigilant and make sure you are up to date.
"There is a lot of East Gippsland which is not impacted by fire at all."
Mr Bull hoped the Great Alpine Road could open in coming days once all safety checks had been carried out including the threat of burnt-out trees falling across the road had been eliminated.
But an update from DEWLP Gippsland stated that "there has been significant damage to the road and the trees either side which indicates that a lot of work could be required before opening".
"The fire is also still burning across parts of the road."
Weather conditions in the area have improved in the last 36 hours and a relief centre set up at Omeo's memorial hall was closed on Sunday.
The first fire in the Tambo Valley area started in late November due to a lightning strike and a bushfire six kilometres east of Ensay is still not under control.
The Albion Hotel at Swifts Creek shut on Saturday due to the power outage and the town's bakery announced on its Facebook page it would be closed until further notice.
An AusNet Services spokesman confirmed when the fire crossed the Great Alpine Road north of Bruthen about 15 poles were damaged and led to the power outage.
"We are going to try and restore power to as many people as possible," he said.
"The fires are still burning and we've got to be careful in terms of our teams working on the ground."
