Firefighters are hoping to contain several bushfires burning in north-east Victoria, with weather conditions predicted to deteriorate on Thursday.

Police have told residents in Creightons Creek to prepare to evacuate.

Four homes have been destroyed by fires that burned across central and north-eastern Victoria, CFA officials say.

Three of them were lost in the Longwood-Creightons Creek fire which burned 6,500 hectares.

One of the homes that was burnt to the ground was at Gooram East and earlier there were concerns about the welfare of two people who had left the home ahead of the fires, but they have now been accounted for.

Police doorknocked residents of Creightons Creek and advised them to evacuate when the fire became "quite active" but it is understood many remained in their homes as the fire threat eased.

"That evacuation is a precautionary attempt to make sure that as the fire moves around later today that people are not caught flat-footed," Emergency Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said.

Victorian fires Longwood, south of Euroa, 6,500 in size

Longwood, south of Euroa, 6,500 in size Lake Rowan, near Wangaratta, 6,800 hectares in size

Lake Rowan, near Wangaratta, 6,800 hectares in size Stewarton, north of Benalla, 3,500 hectares in size

Stewarton, north of Benalla, 3,500 hectares in size West Wodonga, six kilometres from homes, 120 hectares in size

The Longwood fire is one of four causing problems for firefighters and emergency officials across Victoria after lightning on Monday sparked 350 fires.

"That's a good result by firefighters to work hard over the last 24 hours to bring most of those fires to a safe state," Mr Lapsley said.

About 1,400 firefighters are working on the ground from agencies including the Country Fire Authority, the Department of Environment and Primary Industries, the Metropolitan Fire Brigade and Parks Victoria.

A cool change on Tuesday caused fire behaviour to become erratic and sparked a number of emergency warning messages.

A home was destroyed in the Lake Rowan fire close to Wangaratta.

There is a watch and act message for that fire which has grown to 6,800 hectares.

A 3,500-hectare fire was also burning at Stewarton, north of Benalla, but that fire is now under control.

The fourth fire, at West Wodonga, is only 120 hectares in size but is only six kilometres from houses.

"And if that fire runs, it runs into residential property on the outskirts of Wodonga," Mr Lapsley said.

"So that's a fire that's small in size but the location is very significant."

Weather conditions expected to deteriorate

The fire risk is expected to increase again on Thursday as weather conditions deteriorate.

Temperatures are expected to be in the low to mid-30s with winds increasing to about 40-50 kilometres per hour in the afternoon, said Andrew Graystone, the Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) state commander.

"We have a cold front moving across the state [and] before that change hits, winds will increase but not to the same extent we saw on Tuesday," he said.

Mr Graystone said there would be an increased risk but nothing like what was seen on Tuesday when the fire risk reached severe and extreme.

Emergency warnings downgraded

Watch and act alerts remain in place for the Creightons Creek fire which is burning near Ruffy, Old Longwood, Longwood East and Gooram.

A pile of metal is all that is left of a house destroyed by a fire at Gooram East. ( ABC News: )

An emergency warning for Boweya and Boweya North has been downgraded to a watch and act alert as authorities take advantage of better weather conditions.

Boweya resident Jane Derrick said the weather on Tuesday night suddenly became "absolutely horrendous", with wind so strong it was almost too strong to stand up.

"I got home about 9:00pm and it was just like sitting watching the Christmas lights which was the Warbies (Warby Range State Park) on fire," she said.

"All the trees around our place are all gone. We had some huge trees. They're all burnt. It's just horrible.

"But we're fine. Shed's gone, [the] house is there and we've got each other and we've got family.

"But it's pretty frightening."

One small school at Devenish was closed because of the fire.

A winery in the Macedon Ranges was damaged and the Creightons Creek fire threatened the property of prominent racehorse trainer David Hayes.

"If you can imagine a horse shoe with the big mountains around us, they were ablaze," he said.

Mr Hayes had to open the gates and let his horses out as the fire advanced.

They went into herd mentality for a while, and then we spent all night catching them and putting them into safety," he said.

A fire continues to burn in a tree trunk at Boweya, near Wangaratta. ( ABC News )

"They found safe little pockets of the property, they're more sensible than some of the humans around the place."

Commissioner Lapsley said crews were racing to get on top of the fires before conditions deteriorate again.

"Today the weather drops off a bit, so that's a good thing," he said.

"But on the Thursday the weather will be up again and in high or severe fire danger rating. So today is the day for us to catch up on the fires."