Emergency management systems failed in the lead up to the deaths of two firefighters in Victoria's north-east almost three years ago, a coroner has found.

Steven Kadar, 34, and Katie Peters, 19, died when a 30-metre-tall tree fell on their truck in strong winds in the Buckland Valley near Harrietville in February 2013.

The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) employees were back-burning, as part of fighting a larger bushfire, when a storm cell hit the area.

Coroner John Olle found no one individual was to blame for the deaths.

However he said different people working on the fire had information that, if collated, may have led to the crew being withdrawn from the area earlier.

He said the system failed, and recommended better weather reporting strategies be put in place on fire grounds.

The family of Mr Kadar, as well as the Australian Workers Union, were angered by the findings.

Steve Kadar, 34, a DSE firefighter, was killed in 2013 when a gum tree feel on his fire truck.

Jan Kadar, Mr Kadar's mother, said she had hoped the recommendations would be stronger and that the department, now known as the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), would undergo a structural overhaul.

"We hope and trust [the recommendations] will be carried out so that families are spared the awful fate that has befallen us as we face an endless list of family gatherings, such as Christmas, without our beloved son," she said.

Choking back tears, AWU state secretary Ben Davis said there was little to like about Mr Olle's findings and he would be taking them up with the Victorian Government.

"They shouldn't have been there until 3:30 in the afternoon, they should have been pulled out hours before and it breaks our hearts to hear that the coroner believes that no-one made a mistake," he said.

"That's just unbelievable and very hard to accept."

Dismay fire crews not ordered to evacuate earlier

Despite some emergency staff becoming aware that a storm could impact the area where fire crews were back-burning at around 2:20pm February 13 2013, crews were not given the order to evacuate until 3:35pm.

Although a number of experienced firefighters expressed dismay that the decision to withdraw was not made earlier, the coroner said in light of the information available it was not unreasonable.

"The systemic communication failure denied decision-makers the opportunity to analyse all relevant information with a view to best ensure the safety of fire crews," he said.

He also found that, even if the information was collated, the decision to withdraw may not have been made any earlier.

"On the balance of probabilities I am unable to find that, had one person been in possession of all this information, a decision would have necessarily been made earlier than it was."

Some other firefighters in the area reported feeling winds up to 50 kilometres per hour ahead of the call to withdraw, however Mr Olle said this could have been localised and not affecting the area where firefighters Ms Peters and Mr Kadar were.

He found multiple safety briefings were given on the day of the deaths to crews about the danger of falling trees.

Mr Olle also said he was satisfied it was important to have the crews back burning at the Pheasant Creek Track, and that the Harrietville bushfire would have gone on to destroy thousands more acres of bushland if the line was not held.

Six senior firefighters raised concerns about trees

The inquest previously heard senior firefighters had raised concerns about falling trees in the days before the accident, while others were uneasy about the management of the fire ground.

Mr Davis said some had wanted to leave the fire ground on the day of the tragedy before they were ordered to.

Bushfire crews fly in to control hotspots and build containment lines around the Harrierville-Alpine north fire. ( AAP/Department of Sustainability and Environment )

"You can't possibly tell me that when people who are fighting a fire believe they should get out, and that through no fault of their own, bureaucracy takes an hour-and-a-half to catch up with them, that there isn't a problem with that," he said.

"That is just not right.

"That two firefighters could be killed and that no-one is to blame and no-one did anything wrong ... completely fails to acknowledge what happened on that day in Harrietville."

He said he believed the DELWP had made some changes that have improved safety, but remained concerned for firefighters in the upcoming fire season.

"We think the coroner — despite the good work that he has done, and with full respect to his position — has got this wrong and we'll be taking this up with the State Government," he said.

Mr Olle found the DELWP had already implemented some improvements since the tragedy, including improved accessibility to weather forecasts, and mandating that fire tracks in alpine ash forests were wider than they had been previously.

He recommended 10 other changes, around improved communications and safety around burnt trees.

Alan Goodwin, DELWP chief fire officer, said his thoughts were with the families, friends and colleagues of Mr Kadar and Ms Peters.

"The next steps will be to prepare a response [to the findings]," he said.

"We want to make sure that the forefront of our mind is the safety of our personnel and firefighters in preparing that response."