"We are probably getting to our max temperature around mid-afternoon ... We will look at how we will use the large air tankers and helicopters and planes will be working on the fire its self. It will be a coordinated effort," he said. A relief centre has been established in Victoria Park in Daylesford. Brendan Hutchinson, a Daylesford local, said many in the town are frightened and tense. “Everyone is scared, and people are trying to look out for each other,” he said. “People in the Daylesford area are saying they can house animals that have had to be evacuated. They are saying people can bring them to them because they have space

“We can see a water bomber in the sky and there are police cars all around. It’s all pretty frightening but we just have to keep off the roads and let everyone do their jobs.” Mr Hutchinson has a property in the Hepburn Springs, however, unable to access it he said he is hoping for the best. “It’s scary, it’s very scary but we are crossing our fingers and hoping.” The fire is already impacting small business in the area. Chris Malden runs Dayget, a holiday rental business in Daylesford. He has had to tell all his guests to leave and call others informing them not to come.

"Living in the country you expect it to happen at some point ... we just don't want to create panic, we don't want to scare people away but safety is obviously the main concern for everyone," he said. High winds, extreme heat and lightning expected on Sunday have seen a total fire ban declared ahead of what has been described as a "really concerning day" for Victoria. With emergency services already fighting fires across the state, authorities fear they may not be able to keep up if major blazes break out on Sunday. Mr Crisp said Victoria had already had just over 2000 bush, scrub and grass fires so far this summer. On Saturday there were about 40 burning fires.

He said today would be a "spike day" for bushfire risk around the state, with temperatures climbing to 40 degrees in the state's north, and storing winds hitting high-risk areas throughout the day. "If you’ve got heat, if you’ve got wind, and you’ve got low humidity those are all the factors that make fires spread," Mr Crisp said. "We are very confident in our emergency services, but what we need [the community] to do is to ensure that they aren't doing anything out in the open that will start a fire." Crews are currently battling blazes in Timbarra, Grantville, Thomson Reservoir, Walhalla and Hepburn Springs. Although Mr Crisp says they currently have sufficient resources to fight these fires, he warned that were more to break out, interstate or even international crews would need to be brought in.

"We aren't there yet, but that always has to be part of our planning. We need to assess all our possible resources," he said. In order to prevent the risk of more fires starting, a total fire ban has been put over the entire state. "Part of the reason for the declaration of the [total fire ban] is because we do have so many fires going at the moment and we know that we can't afford to have too many more fires across the landscape," Mr Crisp said at a press conference on Saturday. State Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp has warned of a higher bushfire risk across Victoria on Sunday. Credit:. "Essentially we will do what we can with some of the most professional, battle-hardened firefighters the world has got, but now it's up to the community. The decisions you make on any given day will determine, particularly [on Sunday], whether you live or die."

While temperatures were reasonably mild overnight, the entire state is in for a scorching Sunday, with the mercury in Melbourne set to reach 39 degrees by mid-afternoon. However, Richard Carlyon, a senior forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology, said that relief is on the way. Those in Melbourne and the state's south can look forward to a swift cool change from 4pm to 5pm. Within fifteen minutes temperatures will drop down to the mid 20's, accompanied by winds up to 80km per hour. Unfortunately, the north of the state can still expect a hot night, the cool winds not reaching them until Monday morning.