The majority of western Victoria - including the Wombat Forest, Brisbane Ranges and the eastern part of the Otways - faces an above normal bushfire threat for the rest of 2016, according to a new report.

The rural-urban fringe on Melbourne's west and north, as well as Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula also face an above normal bushfire risk.

And bushfire experts have warned that west and south Gippsland and parts of the state's central highlands "could see rapidly escalating fire behaviour later in summer", as bushfire fuel dries out.

The warnings are contained in the latest "Southern Australia Seasonal Bushfire Outlook 2016", released by the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Co-operative Research Centre.

Emergency Management Victoria warned that above average spring and winter rainfall combined with higher temperatures would generate extensive grass growth on the city's fringe, increasing the risk of grass fires.

It predicted that the state's bushfire season would start later than previous summers.

"With increased rain and higher temperatures leading to considerable grass growth it will be critical for people living in interface areas to be prepared, and to be prepared early," Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley said.

Because of the rainfall Victoria received in winter, the grassland areas of the state were generally housing taller and more dense grass than this time last year, Mr Lapsley said.

"Grass fires can start unexpectedly, they are fast-moving and can have significant impacts. We need to make sure we are prepared this summer," he said.

"There's more fuel so they'll be more intense fires. They'll be hotter fires and potentially on the day will burn faster, and also have the potential to spot further.

"It is different to last year because last year there wasn't as much fuel around," Mr Lapsley said.

"We're not going to see a fire season in October this year. The months of December, January and February will be the critical three months,  so the window is shorter than our previous year, but the amount of growth in there will see the intensity of fire being fairly significant, being an above average season."

Despite high emotions over the long-running CFA pay deal dispute, Mr Lapsley said the fire services would respond promptly and capably when fires ignited this bushfire season.

"There's a lot of noise about it but at the end of the day, when there's smoke in the sky I have got the confidence that everyone will be on the trucks, doing the right thing, working together," he said.

"At the end of the day we've got to protect Victoria and they will do that. And it doesn't matter whether they're career (firefighters) or volunteers, they'll be on the trucks and they'll do it."