While Ballarat was spared the fires, the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority centre in Mount Helen was a hive of activity.

Ten years ago on February 7, 2009, Anthony Rasmussen was a dispatcher in the centre - it was his job to relay information to fire crews responding to incidents.

Based on the weather, he knew it was going to be bad, but he had no idea how bad it was going to get.

“It was a day of activity like I’ve never experienced before,” he said, adding it was all hands on deck at the centre.

“There were fires present throughout so many areas in Victoria, and the weather was relentless with the heat and the strong winds.”

Mr Rasmussen is now the executive operations manager at the centre, but on Black Saturday, he was in charge of eastern Victoria - fires sprung up from Beechworth to Dargo in the High Country, to Churchill in central Gippsland, to Wilsons Promontory.

“We were so focused, we all had our own areas we were looking after as far as dispatching goes, (but) the fires presented so quickly,” Mr Rasmussen said.

“You didn’t realise, it wasn’t just your area being impacted, it was multiple areas across the state.”

Recommendations from the Royal Commission have changed many things, including how dispatch systems work - making life easier for people like Mr Rasmussen in state-wide emergencies. “We implemented, from a dispatch perspective, many strategies to improve our effectiveness in how we respond and dispatch,” he said.

“It’s mainly the processing of info and the ways we set up during these (fire danger) days, to make sure we do dispatch these jobs, when they do come in, as effectively as possible.”

Workers will pause at the centre on Thursday to remember.

“We still have a large contingent that worked through that campaign that are still employed here,” he said.

“Looking back, I’m just extremely proud of the ESTA staff – what they achieved in helping Victorian community was exceptional.”

Days before the devastating Black Saturday fires, then-premier John Brumby warned Victorians they were in for some of the worst times in state's history.

He was right.

On the back of drought, a week of 40C temperatures and record-breaking 46.4C heat in Melbourne, nature unleashed its fury on February 7, 2009.

"It was a terrible day," Mr Brumby told ABC TV a decade later.

"We saw the very worst of nature. Fifteen-hundred atomic bombs - that was the power of those fires that day. And nothing - nothing - could stop them.

"But at the same time, this extraordinary human spirit, the generosity of human spirit and the hope for the future. And they are the two things that really jump out, I think, about that period."

Recalling the disaster 10 years on has been traumatic for many, forced to not only rebuild their homes but their lives, too.

"When you put all of that together, it takes a long, long time to heal. For many people looking back on that, it's still a very difficult time," Mr Brumby said.

On Thursday, people from communities most affected, including Marysville and Kinglake, will mark the anniversary with a range of events, gathering to pay respect to those lost and celebrate the heroes that came to their aid before and after the blazes.

At Marysville's Gallipoli Park, where hundreds of people gathered to shelter from the fires, a commemorative event will be staged.

Many communities have requested media not attend Thursday's events.

Marysville survivor Tony Thompson said the lead up to the 10-year mark has been tough and many people were looking forward to it being over.

- AAP

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