Several firefighters have been treated for heat-related illness. The Seaford fires have led to power cuts and thick smoke. Credit:Cale Tovey Multiple structures were alight, with 23 firetrucks and police on the scene. The fire spread to grassland and vacant industrial buildings nearby. Andrea O'Brien, of Frankston North, witnessed the childcare centre being evacuated. Burnt-out cars sit near a childcare centre in Seaford that was evacuated during a series of fires in the area on Friday. Credit:Simon Schluter

“The police helped them cross the road. A whole bunch of little kids and a whole bunch of childcare people. It’s so close ... from what I can see, the fire was maybe 10 houses away from the childcare centre.” Thick smoke hovers over Seaford. Credit:Cale Tovey “The kids looked very hot – poor little munchkins. Neighbours were giving them water, and there were parents running to give them water.” Ms O'Brien said she overheard the early explosions that started the blazes. “It was horrendous. You could tell it was gas cylinders going off. This was huge. We tried to go into Frankston, and Frankston is all closed. We watched from a little while. There was so much smoke – it’s grey-black smoke.

Helicopter footage shows multiple cars have been burnt out. Barry Street resident Mandi Robinson was one of the first call triple zero and she said the sound of the explosions was “horrific”. The house where the explosions happened is a blackened mess after it was scorched by the flames. Riva Lindsay returned from a Christmas party to help protect the house over the fence from the fire in Webb Street, Seaford. Credit:Simon Schluter “The booms, the whole house was shaking,” she said.

“There was a good half a dozen before I came out and saw the flames.” She said at least 25 different gas bottles exploded over the period of half an hour, sending flames shooting across to the nearby Nylex factory. “Another guy went in and bits of gas bottles were flying past him,” she said. The flames were thirty or forty feet high, she said. “There was stuff flying everywhere, debris, chunks of gas bottles,” she said.

CFA spokesman Peter Lucas said the blazes had damaged a number of houses. “It’s been a dynamic fire. About 3.30pm five or seven gas cylinders located between a couple of houses caught fire – we don’t know how. It severely damaged two houses. It damaged another three houses. It spread into a grassland reserve." The bushfire travelled south-west from from Webb Street, Seaford toward Dandenong-Frankston Road. Embers were starting fires up to 1 kilometre in front of the main blaze. Residents of the south-eastern suburb were urged to take action as the temperature in Melbourne soared past 42 degrees. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video

Local resident Richard, who asked not to have his last name published, said his friends heard one loud explosion followed by three more smaller ones. “The fire looks like it’s caught into the grass, it’s spreading into the back of the petrol station and across the road into the church," he said. "My friend can see fire coming from the garden of one house.” Firefighters at Seaford after a series of blazes following gas explosions at a nearby residential property. Credit:Tom Cowie A watch and act was issued for Seaford, Frankston North, Seaford South, Karingal and Carrum Downs after the gas cylinder ignited a structure fire, which later turned into a bushfire. Cale Tovey, 18, lives in Seaford with his mother and said there was "smoke everywhere".

"I was in my bedroom and heard a big, big boom," he said. "I went outside, fire trucks, ambulances came out about 3pm. He said helicopters were flying overhead. "I believe they were dropping water on the fires." "I can see the smoke everywhere. The petrol station near his home has been damaged and he was trying to work out if they would be able to leave the area given they don't have a car.

"We've got no power and don't want to be out here, it's 43 degrees." On Barry Street, Seaford, where the fire struck, at least seven gas bottles lay strewn across the driveway of a burnt-out house. Incredibly houses on either side were untouched. Firefighters were being treated by paramedics at the scene. It was one of several fires burning across Victoria.

An emergency warning was issued about 4.50pm after a grassfire in the state's west ignited and started racing south toward Ben Major Forest and the town of Lexton. A watch and act has been issued for Seaford. Credit: Emergency Management Victoria The fire was threatening the township and the site of Rainbow Serpent Festival, which set to begin on January 24. More than 40 fire vehicles brought the blaze under control shortly before 6pm. In the state's far west, a watch and act warning has been issued for a fire burning west of Dunkeld. A wind change is expected for later in the evening that could push the fire toward the Grampians.