Alpine bushfire warning eased February 1, 2013 - 2:37PM Cooler weather and light rain have allowed fire crews to downgrade an emergency warning in Victoria's alpine region as they battle an out-of-control bushfire. The Country Fire Authority (CFA) revised its warning for Hotham Heights on Friday afternoon to a watch and act alert. It warned residents still in the area to follow their bushfire plans, and asked the 80 people who had left late on Thursday not to return home. While temperatures in single figures and several millimetres of rain had helped curb the spread of the 5000-hectare blaze, the patchy rainfall was also hampering the efforts of six helicopters and three fixed-wing aircraft deployed to fight the fire since it jumped containment lines on Thursday afternoon. "The weather conditions are good and bad ... while any rain over that fire is a good thing, it also means the aircraft are up and down," a CFA spokeswoman said on Friday. Residents must remain vigilant, the CFA said, because the situation could change at any moment. "Like we saw yesterday, it just took a change in weather and wind for a fire that was previously pretty benign to turn into an emergency," the spokeswoman said. Ground crews were working on containing spot fires in the area, she said. Snow machines were being used by ski resort staff to protect infrastructure. The blaze, which began near Harrietville, has been burning since January 21. The Great Alpine Road remained closed between Harrietville and Dinner Plain on Friday, and the Dargo High Plains Road was also shut. Victorian Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said aircraft would scan the fire to help determine its exact location and enable firefighters to build containment lines in the rough terrain. He said the battle was far from over, with hot, windy weather forecast for the middle of next week.