A Christmas Day bushfire that destroyed more than 100 homes in Victorian holiday towns could flare up again on New Year's Eve.
Cooler weather has calmed the blaze that burned 98 homes in Wye River and 18 in Separation Creek, on the Great Ocean Road.
But temperatures will rise again to 37C on Thursday, potentially causing fire flare-ups.
"Our fear of this fire though - it's here all summer," emergency management commissioner Craig Lapsley told reporters on Sunday.
"We will have to monitor this every day, all the way through.
"Because one hot spot, on the wrong day, could be the fire that runs into the next problem."
Mr Lapsley praised local firefighters for preventing an even bigger disaster.
"I would have thought they would have lost at least 200 homes in this town," Mr Lapsley said.
"This brigade, this community, actually had a community plan that had planned for many years about a fire coming into Wye River."
The 2200-hectare Jamieson Track fire started with a lightning strike on December 19.
The Insurance Council of Australia estimated initial insurance losses at $25 million.
No one died in the fires, although three firefighters suffered minor injuries.
