UPDATE:

A man killed by a falling tree while battling a blaze in the state's alpine region was a 40-year veteran firefighter.

Bill Slade, 60, was fighting fires with Parks Victoria at Omeo when he died on Saturday.

The married father of two from Wonthaggi has been remembered as one of the longest serving, most experienced and fittest firefighters.

"This is a significant loss for the Forest Fire Management Victoria family and the community as a whole," FFMV boss Chris Hardman said Sunday morning.

Mr Slade was on a taskforce working at the fire's edge.

"Although we do have enormous experience in identifying hazardous trees, sometimes these tree failures can't be predicted," Mr Hardman said.

"It would have been a traumatic experience for everybody on that taskforce."

Mr Slade had worked on major fire incidents in the past including the Ash Wednesday bushfires.

His 40 years service was recognised in a presentation in November.

Mr Slade's death follows the death of fellow FFMV firefighter Mat Kavanagh, 43, who died on duty when his vehicle crashed on the Goulburn Valley Highway on January 3.

Mr Hardman said despite the deaths firefighters would continue to be deployed.

"We have to be out there ... it's a long time before the risks around these fires are over," he said.

They'll be out in the field until late February or March, or possibly beyond.

"I think we need to be really clear unless we get really significant rains ... 100-150mm of rain we're going to be in this for the long haul," he said.

Emergency Management Victoria Commissioner Andrew Crisp said "benign conditions" are forecast in coming days, including thunderstorms expected to bring rain.

Victoria Police and Worksafe are investigating Mr Slade's death.

While an emergency warning remains in place for a fire near Mount Hotham, the state of disaster declared for the regions has ended.

Milder conditions are forecast for the next week to 10 days, meaning attention can turn to getting the upper hand on the more than 20 fires still burning.

Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville said relieving exhausted emergency services workers was also a priority.

"People are very fatigued, that is the case with communities but also the case with our emergency service personnel, they are very exhausted and we need to be able to rotate in and out people," she told reporters on Saturday.

"We have got a chance to do that whilst we are also still doing a lot of the planning, a lot of the work that we can do to try and minimise the future impact of these fires."

More than 1.3 million hectares have been razed since November 21, while 286 homes and 400 other buildings have been damaged.

EARLIER

The Forest Fire Management Victoria firefighter from Parks Victoria was killed while battling a blaze in the Omeo area on Saturday, Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp confirmed.

"Family and fellow emergency personnel are being informed and will be supported," Forest Fires Management Chief Fire Officer Chris Hardman said in a statement.

"The safety and wellbeing of our people is our highest priority."

The firefighter's death will be investigated by Victoria Police, who will prepare a report for the coroner.

It comes after another Forest Fires Management worker Mat Kavanagh, 43, died on duty when his vehicle crashed on the Goulburn Valley Highway on January 3.

Mick Roberts from Buchan and Maramingo Creek man Fred Becker were also killed in the fires at East Gippsland on New Year's Day.

While bushfire conditions have eased, Mr Crisp warned there was a "long way to go" before the state's fire season was over.

"It is great to have some respite now, so we can reset and refocus in terms of our operational activities and what we can do to support community, but we will have more hot weather," he told reporters on Saturday.

"We are planning through until the end of March."

Cooler temperatures and rainfall eased conditions on Saturday after Friday's strong southwesterly whipped up fires in the alpine and East Gippsland regions.

While an emergency warning remains in place for a fire near Mount Hotham, the state of disaster declared for the regions has ended.

Milder conditions are forecast for the next week to 10 days, meaning attention can turn to getting the upper hand on the more than 20 fires still burning.

Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville said relieving exhausted emergency services workers was also a priority.

"People are very fatigued, that is the case with communities but also the case with our emergency service personnel, they are very exhausted and we need to be able to rotate in and out people," she told reporters on Saturday.

"We have got a chance to do that whilst we are also still doing a lot of the planning, a lot of the work that we can do to try and minimise the future impact of these fires."

More than 1.3 million hectares have been razed since November 21, while 286 homes and 400 other buildings have been damaged.

AAP