On Friday 4 January 2019, with temperatures above 40°C across much of Victoria and a total fire ban in place, strong, hot northerly winds ahead of a cold front saw more than 220 fires break out. Underlying soil dryness and heavy fuel loads led to rapidly developing and intense fires, including one near Rosedale in Gippsland that burned for several days.

The Rosedale fire started just before 1.00pm but it was the south-westerly wind change later that evening that led to a significant increase in fire activity. Emergency warnings were issued, urging residents to take shelter after the wind change pushed the fire towards the town of Willung and nearby settlements. An evacuation centre was established in Sale to support affected residents.

At this fire, night-time aerial water bombing was deployed to a bushfire for the first time in Australia following successful trials in 2018. This new capability enables aircraft equipped with night vision imaging systems (NVIS) or night vision goggles (NVG) to assist ground crews on fires for longer and when fire behaviour is typically less intense.