Cooler weather in bushfire-hit areas has finally offered crews a chance to contain out-of-control blazes burning in Victoria's west, as concerns were raised about how heath services deal with fire threats.
The cool change swept through after a three-day heatwave but temperatures are set to continue to yo-yo in coming days.
Forecasts for Thursday were expected to reach the mid to upper 30s before another cool change sweeps across the state on Friday, weather bureau meteorologist Angus Hines said.
Victorian firefighters will call on 114 interstate personnel from SA, the ACT, NSW, Queensland and the NT to help contain fires during cooler weather, according to State Control Centre spokesman Luke Heagerty.
"We're really grateful for that support that's coming from interstate," he said on Wednesday.
"We know that we'll make some great progress over the next few days, whilst the weather's on our side."
Three fires in the Grampians National Park joined late on Tuesday, with the southern fire ripping through burnt land to the north.
The risk has reduced for people at the top end of the Victoria Valley and around the town of Cavendish, but remains over the coming days for communities near Wartook, Mr Heagerty said.
Firefighters will prioritise protecting an unburnt 'gap' of land west of Halls Gap, which is close to several towns.
About 700 firefighters are battling uncontrolled flames there and further north at the Little Desert National Park near the SA border.
Firefighters spent much of Wednesday searching for new blazes sparked by overnight lightning strikes and further containment work, with no rain forecast in coming days.
"Crews, at this stage, are having some good success with slowing the spread of that fire once it reaches private land outside the park boundary," Mr Heagerty said.
It comes as the National Rural Health Alliance and the Climate and Health Alliance called for long-term solutions to build resilience in rural and regional health services to deal with more frequent extreme weather events.
"Health professionals are not currently equipped to deal with the frequency and scale of climate change events," National Rural Health Alliance chief executive Susi Tegen said.
"In recent weeks we have observed hospital admissions rise and health services unable to evacuate from fire zones, adding to mounting pressure."
Nationals MP Emma Kealy took aim at the state Labor government over the failure to evacuate Dimboola District Hospital and its nursing home when the Little Desert fire threatened the town on Australia Day.
She said that fire burned within 350 metres of the campus, and claimed patients, residents and staff's lives were placed at unnecessary and unacceptable risk.
Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said the decision was based on the best information available at the time from Emergency Management Victoria agencies including the CFA.
"The decision about whether to evacuate a hospital or a public sector aged care facility is complex ... and is made by experts," she told parliament.
"It is not based on ill-informed information."
Meanwhile, it was revealed Victoria's volunteer Country Fire Authority has shrunk by more than 20 per cent since the state Labor Party came to power in 2014, with 28,906 personnel as of June 2024, down from 36,823 in 2014.
Grazier Brett Monaghan previously moved more than 400 sheep from his property at Brimpaen over concerns it was in the path of the northern Grampians fire and was prepared to do it all over again if necessary.
"I don't think anybody's completely relaxed at this point," he said.
His land is at the bottom of the Grampians mountains and he said nearby plumes of smoke were never far from his thoughts.
"Everybody's still keeping an eye out and I think everybody's still looking at the mountains every couple hours to just to make sure that the smoke's a long way away," he said.
