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THE CFA has confirmed 16 houses and 18 out-buildings have been lost in the Dereel fires. Deputy incident controller Trevor Dess said the houses destroyed were confined to the 1300 hectare fireground southeast of the township. "We don't expect these numbers to significantly change," Mr Dess said. "The houses affected aren't in the township itself, it didn't impact that township, its in a rural, residential area to the southeast of Dereel." Today at 5pm, the fire was still about 1300 hectares and 75 firefighters remained on scene, working to make the area safe. "There will be firefighters working over the Easter period - we'll have crews helping to black out the fire, mop up and make sure there is no spotting over containment lines," he said. "We'll be working ensure the fire is blacked out so we can declare it safe. It's not at that stage yet." Mr Dess said strong winds were making the firefighters' jobs tougher today . "Anecdotally people have said they were stronger than the forecast of between 45 and 65 kilometres," he said. "There were a couple of spotovers over containment lines from the gusty winds, but crews were able to round them up quickly so they didn't run. The relief centre at Linton closed at 11am today and relocated to Dereel. A firefighter was taken to hospital after sustaining a burn to the lower leg. Mr Dess said four firefighters hospitalised yesterday after their truck ran into a tree in heavy smoke were released overnight. "There are medical people in Dereel providing assistance, as well as police and CFA rapid assessment teams working to assess the situation.

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