20:36

The incident controller of the Gippsland fires said he could not confirm whether lives or property had been lost in massive fires that burned through East Gippsland overnight, because it was so hot they had to ground their infra-red tracking plane.

And he said the beachside town of Mallacoota, where 4,000 tourists and locals are on the foreshore being protected by firefighters, is expected to be hit by fire this morning. Chris Eagle, from the department of environment, land, water and planning, said the fires grew about 60% in size overnight.

On Monday afternoon, the three largest fires — Barmouth Spur near Bruthen, W Tree, and the Cann River fire — were estimated to be 200,000ha in size.

“There’s a lot of fire, a lot of activity,” Eagle told ABC radio in Gippsland on Tuesday morning. “There’s going to be impacts to residents just because of the sheer size.”

Asked if that meant he could not say whether there had been a loss of property or lives, Eagle said: “No, not as yet.”

He said he had reports the fire had directly impacted on the towns of Bruthen and Orbost.

The Princes Highway was closed from Bairnsdale to Genoa, east of Mallacoota, on Monday night, but on Tuesday morning the stretch between Lakes Entrance and Bairnsdale was opened to allow tourists to leave.

All of East Gippsland remains under an emergency alert this morning, except Bairnsdale which is under a watch and act.