Temperatures drop overnight but warnings remain in place for several parts of the state as well as in Tasmania

The mercury plummeted in Victoria overnight but firefighters were still battling several blazes across the state.

About 40 firefighters had to take life-saving action as an out-of-control blaze switched direction due to a wind change.

Three groups of firefighters from the CFA and Forest Fire Management were working on the eastern flank of the Rosedale fire in Gippsland on Friday when a predicted wind change occurred, emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp said on Saturday.

The flank became the fire front and raged towards the firefighters, who came out shaken but uninjured by the experience. A fire truck, trailer and bulldozer belonging to Forest Fire Management were burnt out.

There will be a review into how the firefighters came to be in harm’s way.

“They found themselves in a very serious situation and they were shaken as a result of it,” Crisp said. “I have spoken to both the chiefs of those organisations, but they’re safe and well and they are being well looked after and we need to and we will learn from this.”

A watch and act alert was in place for residents near Rosedale, in the state’s east, where a fire had been burning on Friday night.

Emergency services warned people in Kilmany, Fulham and Wurruk to monitor the dangerous conditions as the fire burned in a north-easterly direction towards them.

A second watch and act was in place for a grassfire burning near Ancona, Merton and Strathbogie.

While kite surfers in Port Phillip Bay were taking advantage of the strong winds and choppy conditions on Saturday morning, authorities were scrambling to remove trees that had blown across roads and highways.

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A State Emergency Service spokeswoman said the organisation was responding to reports of 144 fallen trees statewide, most of which were in Melbourne and its surrounds.

She said there were 22 incidents of buildings being damaged, including 14 in Melbourne and the outer suburbs.

Authorities were urging residents to secure outdoor items, park their vehicles under cover and to be wary of fallen trees and power lines.

Melbourne was headed for a top of 21C on Saturday just a day after being belted with scorching heat.

Some northern centres reached 46C on Friday before the cool change swept through.

Andrea Johnston (@AJairwaves) Meanwhile in Alice Springs... #heatwave

I have never seen that number on my phone before. We've had a lot of 43s and 44s lately but 45? 😮 pic.twitter.com/2YFbU3ygqf

The milder conditions were expected to bring relief to firefighters battling the two major blazes to the north and east of Melbourne.

A wind change helped them slow the spread of the fire overnight, but nearby residents were to stay on high alert through Saturday morning.

Victoria Police said it was investigating the cause of the Rosedale fire.

The emergency services minister, Lisa Neville, warned on Friday that the “danger period is not over” with scope for more blazes.

The Bureau of Meteorology was forecasting the heat to return soon, ahead of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

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Tennis Australia has upgraded temperature testing at the Melbourne Park sports centre and referees will be able to suspend play under extreme conditions.

In Tasmania, the uncontrolled wilderness bushfire raging in the southwest was expected to continue its fury over the weekend as firefighters fought to put it out.

The Gell river fire, west of the Tasmanian capital, had burned through almost 15,000 hectares of bush but no longer posed an immediate risk to properties, the Tasmania Fire Service said.

Bureau of Meteorology, Tasmania (@BOM_Tas) Happy Saturday!



What a difference 24 hours has made in #tassie! Pics from 11:30am on 4/1, 9:00pm on 4/1 and 7:30am on 5/1.



Things looking much clearer today with showers about the west and east.#forecast at https://t.co/2geBRGwbHz#tasmania #weather #hobart pic.twitter.com/slmOMrLsjK

But residents were warned of a risk of embers from the blaze, burning about 20km northwest of the communities.

An advice warning remained in place on Saturday for Maydena, Tyenna, Mt Field, National Park, Bushy Park, Ellendale, Westerway and Fentonbury.

Parks and Wildlife Service’s Paul Black said on Friday the fire was expected to subside overnight as the wind change and cold front moved in.

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“Over the next couple of days we’ll have a much more moderate fire behaviour, which will give our crews an opportunity to make a very good assessment of what the fire has got to and what our control strategies should be from here on in,” he said.

“The area has a significant amount of smoke and cloud over it which makes it difficult to determine that western boundary ... but there will be more information coming out about that for 24 hours.”

Sprinkler lines had been set up to protect some communities in case the fire headed in their direction while more retardant drops, backburns and water bombing could happen.

“We are not out of the woods. There is a significant fire risk,” Tasmania Fire Service chief officer Chris Arnol said on Friday.

Hobart was expected to hit a top of 22C on Saturday.

– Australian Associated Press contributed to this report