4pm: A large fire that engulfed a weatherboard house near Kinglake has spread through surrounding paddocks and sparked a grass fire.
The grass fire broke out at 12.30pm on Monday, after Country Fire Authority crews were called to battle a blaze at a burning house.
The house at St Andrews, north-west of Melbourne, was completely destroyed.
“What then happened is that the fire has got away and started a grass fire in the area,” State Control Centre spokesman Paul Huggett said.
“We have hit that one pretty hard – we’ve got nine crews out there.”
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Clouds of smoke could be seen from nearby communities and roads, the CFA said.
The grass fire in the Shaftesbury Avenue area and house fire in Caledonia and Dodd streets were contained by 2pm and deemed safe.
Mr Huggett said fire crews were dousing the grass fire with water to make sure it did not spread again.
Authorities have forecast severe fire danger for Tuesday for the central area, which includes Melbourne, Mallee, Wimmera, south-west and north central regions.
Most parts of the state are “very dry and ready to burn”, Mr Huggett said.
