Dereel residents warned to stay near shelter after tense night of bushfires amid Victoria heatwave

Victorians have sweltered through a tense night as bushfires threatened to destroy lives and homes.

An emergency warning instructed residents of Dereel, Corindhap and Rokewood Junction south of Ballarat to shelter indoors on Wednesday night after an anxious day of fire danger.

A watch and act message encompassed the nearby areas of Enfield, Rokewood and Mount Mercer, telling residents there to evacuate.

The alerts were downgraded on Thursday morning as the grassfire that started in Dereel was brought under control, but residents there were told to stay near shelter.

“Staying close to a building where you can shelter is the safest option, as conditions can change suddenly,” VicEmergency said.

Authorities said firefighters had been able to contain the spread of the blaze but warned that this could change at any time.

The fire danger rating in the nearby Wimmera region was catastrophic on Wednesday and State Control Centre spokesman Luke Hegarty warned Victoria was not out of the woods.

Authorities were waiting to see how the Bayindeen bushfire northwest of Ballarat developed on Thursday after crews built containment lines around its 157km perimeter.

“(We’ve had) some reports of trees within the burnt area putting up a bit of smoke,” Hegarty told AAP on Wednesday night.

“It seems to have held pretty well and stayed within the existing burnt area.”

The bushfire had burned through about 22,000 ha of land as of Wednesday.

Crews were expected to have a better idea of how much work they had left with the blaze later in the week, Hegarty said.

Spot fires had sprung up close to or within the already burned area, letting close-by ground crews and aircraft quickly tackle them, he said.

Many in the fire danger zones heeded warnings and left by Wednesday morning but some residents stayed to defend their properties.

Cooler temperatures were expected on Thursday following a cool change after Mildura on Wednesday reached the mid-40s.

Horsham was among areas in the 30s and recorded a wind gust of 96km/h after 5pm on Wednesday.

Hegarty said conditions would remain dry after the cool change.

“Although summer is coming to an end on paper ... there’s still some potential left in the season (for further bushfires),” he said.

As of Wednesday, six homes, 84 sheep and two beef cattle were lost to the Bayindeen blaze.

Residents of several areas were warned it was not safe to return.