Posted by 
Residents from bushfire-ravaged communities in western Victoria have been allowed back into the fire zone after dozens of properties were lost this week.
Two major bushfires wreaked havoc in the region, destroying 24 homes and businesses, scorching a primary school, and injuring emergency service workers.
Multiple fires are continuing to burn after catastrophic fire conditions earlier this week, but emergency crews have managed to gain control of the blazes.
READ MORE: 'Days if not weeks' to fix some power outages as almost 300,000 without power in Victoria
Almost half of homes lost in Pomonal
Authorities confirmed 24 homes and three businesses were destroyed in Pomonal, an estimated 40 per cent of the town.
Resident Jemma Purcell returned to the town to find her Airbnb had been reduced to rubble.
The previous owner sold the property to Purcell after enduring the devastation of bushfires.
"I'm completely broken by it," she said.
"I wanted that not to happen this time obviously."
Purcell said she was still haunted by the moment she and her manager Julien were forced to flea, as the wall of fire charged towards them.
READ MORE: Man charged after incident on bridge in Melbourne's CBD
Conditions ease but multiple fires still out of control
The state control centre has downgraded a number of dangerous bushfires burning in Victoria's west, but two remained out of control this afternoon.
The state emergency service warned people to stay away from dangerous fires at McLeod Road within the French Island National Park and Bellfield within the Grampians National Park.
Residents at nearby Pomonal were told the tap water isn't safe to drink.
Fires impacted crucial infrastructure that supplies water to the town, with crews working to restore the water supply as soon as possible.
Meanwhile firefighters managed to contain a number of fires, including one major fire that was earlier burning out of control in the Grampians National Park.
Crews contained the Mt Stapylton fire but said smoke and flames would still be visible.
Locals have been urged to monitor the fires.
The Grampians National Park has been closed to visitors and people have been told to avoid the area.
Property lost, firefighters injured
At least five firefighters were left with burns after their truck was overwhelmed in an unexpected burn-over while fighting the fires in the Grampians National Park on Tuesday.
All five were assessed by paramedics and suffered minor burns, the CFA said.
Ballarat firefighter Jarrod Pegg was one of the firefighters involved in the close call.
"It was a rapid change in that wind that caused a significant fire wall, and it came over us," he said.
READ MORE: French man who climbed Melbourne skyscraper claims it wasn't for fame
Almost 72,000 homes and businesses remain without power after ferocious storms caused major electrical transmission lines and power generators to fail.
Golf-ball-sized hail, flash flooding and severe winds ripped through large parts of regional Victoria and Melbourne, knocking down hundreds of powerlines and poles.
