"The fire hasn't gone past retardant lines on Saturday night, and air support was able to slow the spread of the fire," Mr Little said. He said conditions on Saturday night were favourable for fighting fires and it was hoped that the fire would be contained quickly. The fire started at about 2pm. Credit:Nine News "There's a couple of existing containment lines on the island, so much of the work is about bolstering those," he said. "The guys who initially responded did an outstanding job. They immediately called for additional resources and that made a big difference."

The cause of the fire is still the subject of investigation, and it is unknown whether any homes or buildings have been lost. The blaze started on Ridge Track and began burning in a southerly direction towards McLeods Road. The fire on French Island. Credit:Nine News Residents on the island were urged to leave their homes, while fire trucks were being ferried to the island two at a time. As well as 119 residents, French Island is home to a strong koala population, which is sometimes used to repopulate other areas because of its chlamydia-free status.

Mim Hope, owner of French Island Glamping, said she could see the fire build quickly from her property about five kilometres away. "It's really quite smoky now," she said on Saturday afternoon. She said she wasn't too worried about the fire coming close to her, as it was spreading in the other direction towards Tankerton. "Friends have already called and said they will send boats and jet skis or anything to get us off if we need to go," she said.

"It's a 12-minute crossing, we'll be right." Nicole Cullen arrived on the island on Saturday afternoon for a holiday and said it was a stressful situation. "We arrived and went straight to the cricket ground, as you do," Ms Cullen said. "We were watching the match and you could see the plume of smoke gradually build. One of the players and a spectator who are both in the CFA actually had to leave. "It was a bit surreal, this is such a resilient community and everyone was really calm. The cricket match actually even finished."

After the match, Ms Cullen and her husband took a drive and the severity of the fires was quickly apparent. "We could see flames swooping up and beautiful native trees being burned," she said. "The smoke continued to build, too. There's a large koala population on this island and it would be just devastating to think that had been impacted."

Tanya Le Serve, owner of the French Island General Store, said the community was rallying together. "We've got a fantastic local CFA unit here on the Island fighting the fire and we've gained mainland support from other local brigades across Bass Coast with trucks coming on from Corinella by barge this afternoon," Ms Le Serve said. "We're all on high alert and the French Island General Store is offering assistance to the community as needed during this stressful time." The island is only accessible by boat, so trucks were taken across from the mainland on a barge, two at a time. The barge can only operate in certain tidal conditions. A water-bomber was also used to fight the fire.

French Island is Victoria's largest island and is only accessible via the barge or a passenger ferry that run from Stony Point on the Mornington Peninsula and Cowes at nearby Phillip Island. Residents of French Island mostly live in solitude, with Kylie Minogue one former homeowner. The roads on the island are dirt tracks. There are no police and many of the vehicles are unregistered. It is also known for being free of introduced animals, such as foxes.

The bushfires that have scorched millions of hectares of land in the past few months have been particularly devastating for animals. On Kangaroo Island in South Australia, it's estimated that as many as half the 50,000 koalas there have been wiped out by fire. There were 15 bushfires still raging in Victoria on Saturday afternoon, predominantly in East Gippsland and the north-eastern alpine regions. Incident management specialists from the US and Canada arrived at Melbourne Airport on Saturday morning, before being deployed to the state's north-east and East Gippsland.