The fire started about 4.45pm in scrub near Tinworth Ave and was pushed south by gusting northerly winds.

More than 250 firefighters in 28 appliances and seven aircraft worked to contain the fire for more than three hours.

Work to build fire breaks on the eastern side of the fire was helped by a south-westerly cool change, which arrived early and brought drenching rain.

Country Fire Authority incident controller Alfred Mason said the fire was declared contained about 8pm last night.

"There will still be hotspots burning, but contained means the fire's now within the perimeter that's been built or made," Mr Mason said.

He said the cause of the fire had not been established last night and he had received no information on what damage had been done to private property in the area.

"Investigators will be out tomorrow. It will be team effort again of CFA, DSE and police, and they will be investigating the cause."

Mr Mason said rain that fell in the area _ almost 17mm was recorded at Ballarat Airport _ would dampen the fire, but also make access difficult along bulldozer tracks.

Most crews returned home by 11pm last night, but tankers continued to patrol the fire through the night.

More firefighters will return to the site today.

Police roadblocks were set up at four locations in the area.

All four were expected to be removed by late last night.

Earlier, CFA and Department of Sustainability and Environment air appliances took water from nearby water-treatment dams.

"Even though we had a lot of aircraft we were able to do so much, so quick because we had water so close," Mr Mason said.

Crews worked to contain the fire to the north of the Mt Clear-Sebastopol Rd, but some spotting had happened.

At that stage, the eastern flank, bordering Geelong Rd, was considered safe but was expected to become a concern when the wind changed.