Dozens of houses were evacuated in the Victorian coastal towns on Thursday after the emergency services issued a warning that the Christmas Day bushfires could reach the area.

According to the chief fire officer of the Country Fire Authority, Joe Buffone, the evacuations are being carried out as a precaution in case the Jamieson Track Fire reaches beyond the containment lines and heads for the coastal towns on Kennett River, Grey River and Wongarra.

Meanwhile, an updated warning has been issued at 8:33 a.m. on Thursday alerting residents that the bushfire in Lorne is still out-of-control.

AAP reported that plumes of smoke were visible from the Apollo Bay even on Thursday morning. The bushfire which destroyed 116 houses in Wye River and Separation Creek is still ablaze in the Otways state forest.

On Wednesday, the police went to every house in the coastal towns and requested the residents to leave. Final checks in the area are being conducted by the police, who are noting down the names and details of those who have decided to stay back.

The houses, the occupants of which have already left, have been marked with blue tapes. The residents are taking refuge either in the nearby Apollo Bay or at an incident control centre in Colac, set up for the purpose.

"There's a small number that have said they will stay to protect their properties," the ABC quoted Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley as saying. The chief fire officer has, however, said that the larger holiday towns are out of reach of the bush fire until now.

Incident controller Alistair Drayton said on Wednesday that the precautionary measure is necessary due to considerable risks of the hotspots erupting in the Otways. “There is potential the fire could run again and we don’t want to take any risk having our community members in these areas,” the Guardian quoted her as saying.

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