Two houses have been destroyed in two days as a fire rages out-of-control in Victoria's Macedon Ranges.
An emergency warning has been issued to residents in central Victoria over an out-of-control bushfire threatening homes and an animal shelter.
The fire is heading towards Cobaw and Lancefield and firefighters have been unable to stop it heading towards
"You are now in immediate danger, act now to protect yourself. Emergency Services may not be able to help you," Emergency Management Victoria's alert says.
The fire, which is a controlled burn that jumped containment lines, has crossed Three Chain Road and is moving fast in a south-easterly direction from Nudist Camp Track towards Maloneys Road and Lancefield.
Spot fires and ember attacks are starting up to 2.5km ahead of the fire front.
Animal shelter Edgar's Mission, near Lancefield, says it has enacted an emergency evacuation plan because the fire is close.
The farm sanctuary has over 250 rescued animals.
"There is a fire in close proximity to Edgar's Mission. Please Do NOT phone us as we are enacting our fire plan. Please do NOT come to Edgar's Mission. Updates as we can," the shelter posted on Facebook on Tuesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, a bushfire that threatened a Bluescope steel plant near Melbourne is being treated as suspicious.
It is the third suspicious fire in Melbourne in 24 hours, with a factory fire at Mordialloc and a fire at AFL superstar Dane Swan's hotel in South Melbourne also being investigated.
Firefighters from 27 trucks fought the fire near the Bluescope plant in Tyabb, getting it under control mid-morning.
The conditions, reminiscent of a January or February heatwave, helped fan more than 100 bushfires with the worst threatening 190 homes near Lancefield, north of Melbourne.
Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley says the early taste of summer is a first for Victoria.
"This is the drying period that sets up the summer in Victoria," he said.
"We have not experienced these types of temperatures or wind speeds in the first week of October in the history of Victoria, so it has taken us to a new space."
He said weather forecasts show no significant rain is expected in Victoria this month, and residents should prepare their properties and survival plans now.
Premier Daniel Andrews is in talks with the federal government on increasing drought assistance, and bushfire fighting capabilities could also be increased.
"If the experts say they need more money, we need more resources, we need more air power then they will get that," he told reporters.
He said Tuesday's bushfire weather is a prelude to a potentially dangerous fire season.
"The `15/'16 fire season is here, now. It is absolutely on us, and we need to understand that this is going to be a long, hot, dry and dangerous summer, and people need to be very clear. You have to get your fire plan in order, and you need to do it now," he said.
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