Water Minister Lisa Neville has promised an external review into the controlled burn-off in the Cobaw State Forest near Lancefield, which jumped containment lines, sparking the bushfire that raged out of control.

"It is an unacceptable situation," she told ABC radio.

"We will get somebody with experience in fire management to review the arrangements that happened in relation to this particular planned burn."

More than 100 fires lit up parts of the state on Tuesday. One home was lost at Cobaw overnight.

On Wednesday morning, the fire continued to burn out of control in the Lancefield area, with firefighters battling to save 12 properties.

By 1pm, the greatest concern was the town of Benloch, about 80 kilometres north of Melbourne.

Residents were told it was too late to leave and safer to take shelter indoors.

The fire, about 3000 hectares in size, was moving rapidly in a northerly direction towards Baynton and Baynton East.

There were at least 200 houses within the fire danger zone, where winds of 60km/h were fanning the flames.

A community meeting was planned for 2pm, amid growing community anger about the state government burn-off.

While Wednesday's cooler conditions were welcome relief for firefighters, strong winds continued to fan the flames.

A relief centre was set up at the Gisborne Community Centre.

With no rain forecast this month, Emergency Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said the state would continue to dry out during October, fuelling potential for more bushfires.

'Long, hot, dangerous bushfire season'

Victorians have been urged to brace for a "long, hot and dangerous" bushfire season.

Premier Daniel Andrews said it was "absolutely on us" to acknowledge the state was facing a challenging summer.

"To be very clear, you've got to get your fire plan and you've got to do it right now. There's no time to waste," he said.

"This cannot be put off until December or January or February. We have got a much earlier fire season.

"It's going to be a very, very challenging three or four months."

But Mr Andrews came under attack from federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt, who said the Premier needed to explain why a controlled burn that started a blaze near Lancefield in central Victoria had gone ahead despite forecasts for a heatwave.

"I'll be writing to the Premier asking if they will review Victoria's controlled burn practices to make sure it happens early in the season when it's cool," Mr Hunt told 3AW.

In response, Victoria's Environment Minister Lisa Neville said: "Our focus right now is on the affected community. As with all planned-burn escapes there will be an investigation into what happened, carried out by experts".

Mr Lapsley says the Lancefield fire was set last Wednesday by the Department of Environment, Water, Land and Planning on public land.

It jumped containment lines in hot, blustery conditions on Saturday and on Tuesday, dry heat and strong winds caused it to burn out of control, forcing evacuations as it reached private property.

An emergency warning was issued at 2pm on Tuesday after the blaze jumped Three Chain Road and raced towards Lancefield.

The south-westerly wind change about 4pm pushed the fire in a north-easterly direction towards Benloch and Nulla Vale.

Wind change saves home

An afternoon wind change is believed to have saved the Lancefield home of Adam Watkins and partner Prue Mathiesen.

Their 100-acre rental property is surrounded by a section of the Cobaw State Forest, which was ravaged by the fire on Tuesday.

At one point the blaze had taken hold of their verandah and was steadily engulfing trees.

"The wind was going a million miles an hour," said Ms Mathiesen.

"You just thought 'where do I start?'."

Mr Watkins said he was about to flee the area – having packed up the dogs and doused them in water – before the wind mercifully changed direction.

Two helicopters also worked to douse the fire and a crew from the Carlsruhe CFA arrived to help.

"It was very, very bad," Mr Watkins said.

"The fire was coming across the house. The only thing that saved it was the wind direction."

Sheep saved

The Lancefield fire also threatened Edgar's Mission, a not-for-profit sanctuary for rescued farm animals.

Pam Ahern said about 400 animals were at the sanctuary.

"We had a fire actually come from the south ... which is where our sheep were, and I was trying to herd them up a paddock and they were getting really scared because the helicopters were getting water out of the dams either side of them," she told radio station 3AW.

"One of the chopper pilots could see what was happening and he actually came around and came up behind the sheep and he started to herd them towards me and once the sheep saw me and I called out them they came running and I could get them out of the paddock."

Emergency service warning

Mr Lapsley said the early start to the bushfire season would test emergency services, but assured Victorians that fire authorities were prepared.

Two NSW Rural Fire Service aircraft will be brought in to join 21 aircraft being used to fight fires throughout Victoria. A Hercules firefighting air tanker dropped fire retardant on the Lancefield bushfire on Tuesday evening.

Mr Lapsley said the fire conditions were being fuelled by the El Nino weather cycle. He compared the state's fire conditions to those back in 1997, when land and property were lost in the Dandenong Ranges and Mornington Peninsula.

Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Stuart Coombs said part of the state's west had only received about 50 per cent of its expected rainfall for the past two years, which had left trees and other vegetation dry.

"To have that drop for two years is very significant, particularly in forests. Trees get stressed and don't carry much water so they'll burn quickly," he said.

Mr Coombs said El Nino, which usually lasts about 12 months, was unfolding strongly in the Pacific, and was unfavourable for producing rain across the country.

Melburnians sweated through a top temperature of 35 degrees on Tuesday, before a cool change brought much-needed relief about 3.45pm. The forecast for Wednesday was 17 degrees.