00:00 Still smouldering, blackened fields surround the small hamlet of Raglan in Western Victoria.
00:07 Just metres separate these homes from total devastation.
00:11 One belongs to Kerry Royal and her family, who are today counting their blessings.
00:17 It's still hard to see that it's all black, but hey, we've got houses, we've got people,
00:21 and lives are more important than property.
00:24 She escaped with her two children and some pets while her husband fought the fire.
00:29 Gone through the two houses, so they've had a truck over next door, a couple over there, and a few here.
00:35 Miss Mumbles used up one of her lives after missing the evacuation.
00:40 Others though lost everything.
00:42 More than 13,000 hectares is burnt.
00:45 A final count of exactly what has been destroyed is still some time away.
00:50 Awful. Just fire was coming from every direction.
00:54 And moving so fast across the grass.
00:59 You can see where the fire has ripped through parts of Raglan.
01:04 Residents were forced to flee yesterday.
01:07 Today they've been able to return to assess the damage and they've been out putting out smouldering spot fires.
01:14 But the threat has since moved north with other communities today facing emergency warnings to evacuate.
01:22 CFA volunteer Michael Dryden from the nearby town of Amphitheatre was one of the many working to save property yesterday.
01:30 The first place where we lost the house was horrific.
01:32 I was actually a bit scared there.
01:35 It got that close, we had fire on both sides of the truck, and it was really, really hot.
01:40 An overnight wind change turning his attention today to his own home.
01:45 We're just watching the wind, really. Watching the wind on those hills over there.
01:49 Those fighting the fires are being praised for their extraordinary efforts.
01:54 Overnight there was well over a thousand people, a thousand firefighters on the ground.
02:00 Aerial support has potentially saved up to 50 properties.
02:04 While the worst of the threat has eased for now, potentially more dangerous conditions are expected next week.
02:11 [BLANK_AUDIO]
