Firefighters were pulled from the Abbeyard Ovens fire on Monday after up to 40 millimetres of rain descended on the fireground overnight.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Incident controllers deemed the area too dangerous with landslides and falling trees their main concerns after more fires were started by lightning strikes.
Ovens deputy incident controller Jarrod Hayse said although the rain has "eased conditions" they have also forced them to reconsider their fire strategy.
"Yesterday the storms rolled in from the north and brought a number of lightning strikes which started new fires," he said.
"We responded to those locally and contained them, there was one near Mount Beauty.
"This morning we saw widespread rain across this area and across the fireground - we have had records of somewhere between five and 40 millimetres of rain around the fire area.
"It is very useful from a fire suppression point of view but now we have to re-manage all the resources and tasks we had planned to get in close to contain this fire.
IN OTHER NEWS:
"We obviously can't get to the firegound now, the tracks are very hazardous and slippery."
Mr Hayse said today they are looking at a "longer term strategy" for the next few days.
"Once this rain goes through there are strong winds on Wednesday that are forecast to come," he said.
"Now is about looking at how we can go about mopping up this fire and getting in close and containing it.
"Our concern with the rain is the chance of flash flooding and debris flow - that isn't just water but it is bringing down logs and ash from the fireground.
"This can potentially wash cars off roads and drown people so it is a big risk."
There was 26 millimetres of rain recorded on Mount Buffalo overnight and this morning.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Kevin Parkyn warned large hailstones, heavy rainfalls and severe thunderstorms could hit later today.
"This on the back of a significant fire season can pose some problems," he said.
"It is a quite complex weather situation with the storms coming with flash flooding.
"A line of storms came in at the north east this morning and brought with it about 20 to 30 millimetres in about an hour."
There was 26 millimetres of rain recorded on Mount Buffalo.
Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said the conditions had made it "difficult" for firefighters to get into the fireground.
"This has had an impact on the fires," he said.
"But it has made it difficult for us to get onto the fireground to assess what this really means for us.
"We still have active fires, although they are all now at advice levels.
"Most of this rain will just run off unfortunately and could cause some landslides in those fire grounds with rocks and trees washing away."