from the main front, resulting in extra fire crews being brought in from Bendigo and Kyneton. The fire was contained by 10 February. Bunyip State Park fire A fire started at Bunyip Ridge in the Bunyip State Park on 4 February, originating near walking tracks; it was thought to have been deliberately lit. By 6 February, the fire had burned out , and emergency services personnel engaged in fighting the fire feared, despite efforts to establish containment lines in the park, that once the extreme weather conditions of 7 February arrived the fire would escape the confines of the park and threaten surrounding towns. By the morning of 7 February, the fire had broken through containment lines. According to the DSE incident controller for the fire, the weather conditions deteriorated much more quickly than predicted, stating that "conditions overnight and in the early hours are usually mild, but our firefighters are reporting strong winds and flame heights of five to 10 metres". Ground-based fire crews had to retreat from the fire front as the escalating conditions made firefighting in the bushland terrain impossible. The fire broke out of the park around 4:00 pm, and by 6:00 pm had burnt out of forest and farmland, threatening the towns of Labertouche, Tonimbuk, Jindivick, Drouin, Warragul and Longwarry, and embers were starting spot fires up to to the south. The fire destroyed approximately a dozen houses at Labertouche, Tonimbuk, and Drouin West, in addition to various outbuildings and a factory. The progress of the fire had been stopped by the afternoon of 9 February, though it had burned through . DSE crews conducted backburning operations to ensure containment of the fire on 9 February, warning residents of areas between Pakenham and Warragul about smoke from those fires. The fire was controlled and co-ordinated at the Pakenham ICC in the Combined Emergency Services building, with CFA and DSE personnel running the operation depending on where the fire was at the time. Pakenham VICSES, who shared the building, also provided assistance during the fire operation. Central Gippsland fires The Central Gippsland bushfires began in a pine plantation southeast of Churchill at about 1:30 pm on the afternoon of 7 February. Within 30 minutes it had spread to the southeast, threatening Hazelwood South, Jeeralang, and Budgeree East, and by late afternoon the fire was approaching Yarram and Woodside on the south Gippsland coast. The cool change