On February 2, lightning started 23 new fires. This included three in the Bunyip State Park, and fires near Drouin West and Leongatha. However, increased humidity helped stop the fires spreading. On February 3, the Country Fire Authority grouped the fires into six areas. Five fires were under control, but one, near Mirboo North, was not.
The major fires include:
The Kinglake fire, was named when two fires joined together after the wind changed direction on February 7 and 8. The fire had burned over by February 8. 147 people died in the Kinglake fire.
The first of the two fires started at Kilmore East, Victoria, on the afternoon February 7 2009, and burned south-east towards St. Andrews through Wandong and Clonbinane. The fire destroyed 30 houses at Wandong and Heathcote Junction on February 7. By February 8, 150 houses had been destroyed at Wandong, and four people killed. The fire closed the Seymour railway line, and parts of the Hume Highway near Kilmore. The north west winds blew the front of the fire towards St Andrews, before the weather changed about 7.30pm, changing the wind to the south west. The wind change turned the long, narrow fire, into a wide fire front that moved north east to Kinglake and Strathewen.
By the evening of February 8, 100 people who had escaped the Kilmore fire, were sheltering in a basketball stadium at Wallan. Many of them were unable to go back to their homes because the police had closed the roads.
The fire front burned through the Kinglake area on February 7. This was the worst fire area in the state, with 37 people killed, and more than 550 houses destroyed. Another 12 people died at Kinglake West, and in Strathewen, 27.
The second fire destroyed the town of Marysville, Victoria. It started north of Marysville, and at first people thought it would go around the town, but within minutes the town was an inferno. At about 5.00pm, electric power was lost, and the wind stopped. Minutes later the wind came back from a different direction, bringing the fire up the valley with it. Damage to the water treatment plant at Marysville made the water unsafe to drink. On February 11, it was said that 100 people of the town's population of 500 were believed to have died, and that only a few buildings were left. Premier Brumby said: "There's no activity, there's no people, there's no buildings, there's no birds, there's no animals, everything's just gone." These numbers were later revised, but 40 people did die, and nearly every building in the town was damaged or destroyed.
About 95% of the houses in Narbethong were destroyed. Other towns affected by the same fire included Taggerty and Buxton.
To the south west, the fire was burning on three sides of Yarra Glen, Victoria, trapping people in the town. Houses north of Yarra Glen were destroyed and large areas of grass lands were burnt.
For some time, the police believed that someone lit the fire that burnt Marysville, and several people were investigated. However, in June 2011, Victoria Police announced that this was probably not the cause.
The Maroondah/Yarra fire was named on February 10, when several fires that had been burning to the east of Healesville, Victoria and Toolangi joined together. By late morning, the fire had burned , with 184 firemen and 56 fire trucks at the fire. While the temperature had cooled, strong winds blew embers and started new fires. Around midday, the danger to property around Healesville was downgraded, though the Department of Sustainability and Environment said that people should watch for changes in the weather.
The fires in the Maroondah/Yarra area continued to threaten the town of Healesville, Victoria until February 14.
In Beechworth, Victoria, a fire burnt more than and came near to the towns of Yackandandah, Stanley, Bruarong, Dederang, Kancoona, Kancoona South, Coralbank, Glen Creek, and Running Creek, Victoria. The fire started at 7.00pm on February 7, south of Beechworth, before being driven south through pine plantations by hot northerly winds.
The fire destroyed buildings at Mudgegonga, Victoria, south east of Beechworth; 2 people died. Thick smoke and clouds made it hard to work out the size of the Beechworth fire.
Strong winds fed the fire on the night of February 8, and lightning started a new fire at Kergunyah around midday on February 9. More than 440 firemen worked to stop a new fire that threatened Gundowring, and Eskdale, Victoria after it jumped the Kiewa River. On the night of February 9, the greatest danger was to Eskdale. Fires were also burning in pine plantations from the large town of Myrtleford, at the opposite, western end of the fire area. While smaller towns to the east, including Gundowring and Kergunyah, were still threatened, the CFA said that there was no immediate danger to the larger towns of Beechworth and Yackandandah, on the northern edge of the fire area.
By February 10, firemen had completed a fire break around the Beechworth fire, and were trying to make more, as the fire still was burning out of control. By the afternoon, the fire threat had been downgraded, but firemen were fighting a new fire near Koetong, Victoria, east of the main Beechworth fire, of between to . People in Beechworth and nearby towns were told on the evening of February 10 to expect more smoke, as 250 firemen would be back burning to make more firebreaks.
The Beechworth Correctional Centre, a prison, offered up to thirty prisoners to help the firemen.
A fire west of the city of Bendigo burned out . The fire started at about 4.30pm on February 7, and burned through Long Gully and Eaglehawk, Victoria. It got to of central Bendigo, before it was brought under control late on February 8. It destroyed about 45 houses in Bendigo's western suburbs, and damaged an electricity transmission line; causing power failures in parts of the city. One man from Long Gully, ill and unable to leave his house, was killed in the fire;his neighbours tried hard but were not able to rescue him. The fire changed direction late on February 7, when the weather changed, and turned back towards Eaglehawk. It was controlled about midday on February 8.
A relief centre was set up at Kangaroo Flat, Victoria Senior Citizens Centre. During the fire, people from Long Gully, Eaglehawk, Maiden Gully, California Gully and West Bendigo were moved from their homes and sent to the centre. The police are investigating whether someone had lit this fire. The CFA think the fire started from a cigarette thrown from a car or truck on the highway.
In Redesdale, a fire burnt . The fire started west of the town. The fire was close to the towns of Baynton and Glenhope. Glenhope was threatened again on February 9 from a smaller fire that broke away from the main fire. More firemen and trucks were brought in from Bendigo and Kyneton. By February 10, the fire had been controlled, having destroyed 12 houses and farm buildings.
A fire at Bunyip State Park burned houses at Longwarry North, and Drouin West, Victoria, as well as farms and businesses, after the fire jumped the Princes Highway.
The fire was stopped by the afternoon of February 9, after it had burned through . The fire destroyed at least eight houses, other buildings and a factory. Fire crews began back-burning to stop the fire on February 9. People between Pakenham and Warragul, Victoria were warned about smoke from those fires.
many farmers, unable to keep animals on their farms because of fire damage, took them to nearby saleyards; by February 9, hundreds of cattle from the Bunyip fire were taken to the saleyards at Pakenham.