Some of the residents and holidaymakers who have been stranded in the East Gippsland town of Mallacoota since it was cut off by an out-of-control bushfire have started leaving the area by sea.
About 4,000 people, including some 3,000 tourists, have been stranded in the town since they were forced to shelter on the foreshore as the fire approached on New Year's Eve.
About 1,000 people were ferried to the naval vessels HMAS Choules and MV Sycamore.
Those who wanted to leave on the ships registered through a formal process with Victoria Police and the Australian Defence Force (ADF), which are coordinating the evacuation.
Melbourne resident Shaun O'Connor, one of the stranded tourists leaving with the Navy, said he wanted to thank the locals and firefighters who defended lives as the fire hit.
"Couldn't thank them [the CFA] enough. They saved our lives," he said.
He left the Bastion Point jetty with his rabbit Thumper, who would be joining him on the journey home.
"I reckon he survived the fire, so I reckon he'll survive the sea," he said.
Residents were told during a community meeting last night that only school-age children could be evacuated via boat because evacuees would be required to use ropes to get on board.
Melbourne woman Sally, who had been holidaying in the coastal town when fires struck, said that meant her entire family decided to stay behind.
"We've got young children and we can get airlifted out — that's our option because our children are young, but all our possessions are here," she told ABC Radio Melbourne.
"For us to leave and then come back isn't an easy task."
Mr Andrews has declared a state of disaster for Victoria, which gives emergency authorities extraordinary powers to respond to the fires.
The federal MP for Gippsland, Darren Chester, said those who had asked to be removed by sea would leave on Friday, bound for Western Port on the Mornington Peninsula.
"It's a mass relocation of a nature which is completely unprecedented in Gippsland's history," he said.
The process of loading the vessels took several hours, and the journey from Mallacoota to Hastings, on Western Port, is expected to take a further 17 hours.
Mr Andrews told ABC Radio Melbourne the evacuees would be taken from Hastings to Melbourne and regional centres.
Chris Symes, who grew up and started raising a family in Mallacoota before moving to New South Wales, said he would stay behind while his 17-year-old and 11-year-old sons left with the Navy.
Mr Symes said he decided to stay in Mallacoota to help his parents, who still live in the town, with the recovery.
He said his father's house survived "by the skin of its teeth" and he wanted to ensure it stayed safe in worsening conditions forecast for the weekend.
"Everyone has been really calm and I think that's what you usually see in these sorts of situations, everyone pulls together to help each other out and stop worrying about the small stuff," he said.
Vulnerable and injured flown out
Mr Chester said 25 people were evacuated out of the town on a Spartan aircraft on Thursday night.
"We've had people getting out of Mallacoota airlifted out who are vulnerable, super sick, or ill or injured with the Black Hawk helicopters," he said.
Chelsea Kent and her young family were flown to Sale by military plane overnight and said she "could not thank the Australian Air Force enough".
Roads in and out of the isolated town, in Victoria's far east, have been blocked by the still-burning blaze and could take weeks to clear.
Heavy smoke has hung in the air since the fires first turned the sky bright red as the blaze closed in on Tuesday.
Relief efforts in Mallacoota and around the state — where many people in remote communities remain trapped — have been hampered by continuing fires and smoke.
Kevin Glee, a tourism operator in the area, said "probably the worst thing" now the immediate fire threat had passed was the smoke.
"You can't see too far. The smoke — we've been breathing it in for a while. I don't think it's real good for anyone," he told ABC News Breakfast.
Mr Chester said the Navy had also sent technicians to the town, which had been without power all week, to restore communications towers.
