The driver of a car which struck and killed a Forest Fires Management worker fighting the Victorian bushfires is set to face court after being charged over the crash.

Alexandra father-of-two Mat Kavanagh, 43, and a colleague were working as part of the bushfire response when their ute collided head-on with another vehicle on the Goulburn Valley Highway at Thornton, near Mansfield, on January 3.

Mat Kavanagh

Mr Kavanagh, a passenger in the ute, died at the scene while the driver, a 47-year-old Narbethong man, was taken to hospital in a serious condition.

The driver of the second vehicle, a 46-year-old man also from Alexandra, was flown to hospital in a critical condition.