The Incident Control Centre moved from Warrnambool to Cobden on Thursday.

Incident Controller Graeme Armstrong said the fire had been downgraded from a level three to a level two status and that should demonstrate that progress was being made.

“It’s a positive sign because we are making progress,” he said.

Mr Armstrong said more than a dozen crew members were making sure the pipeline pumping water to the swamp continued to work and were also available to put out fire hot spots.

He said given peat fires could burn for a significantly long time if left untreated it was difficult to put a timeline on when the fire would be fully contained, but significant rainfall would help.

He said the strategy for the Cobrico and Elingamite fires continued to be to get bulk water into the swamp and flood it. “The pipeline has been a huge asset,” he said.

Mr Armstrong said it was a good time to move to Cobden and also support the local businesses.

“It will bring us a lot closer to the community,” he said.

“Reduced numbers of people now involved in the Cobrico Swamp and Lake Elingamite fires mean that we are now in an ideal position to shift office out to the Cobden CFA station.

“This is also an opportunity to further support the many Cobden and surrounds based businesses through additional meals, accommodation and supplies.

“At the same time I’d also like to thank all of our suppliers in and around Warrnambool who have done a great job supporting us over the past six weeks. We’d like to reassure everyone that we are by no means pulling back from our support for these fires and the community, and acknowledge that there is still work to be done to fully extinguish a number of hot spots.”

Mr Armstrong said by having everyone in the one place the crews could communicate faster. “I’d like to thank everyone involved, particularly the community members, for your ongoing assistance, understanding and patience” he said.

On April 11 families within a one kilometre radius of the Cobrico peat fire, which started on St Patrick’s Day, were able to return to their homes.

Mr Armstrong said getting children back to school and the elderly into their residential accommodation had been a huge priority.