By Allanah Sciberras, Poppy Johnston and Tess Ikonomou 

Victorians will have access to support payments and emergency accommodation under a $19.5 million financial aid package.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan announced the immediate support on Sunday alongside Anthony Albanese in Bendigo.

“My message to Victorians is pretty simple, we’ve got your back,” the prime minister said.

“Not just during this crisis, but through the recovery as well.”

Impacted communities will also have access to a one-off disaster recovery payment of $1000 for each adult and $400 per child.

“It’s available for people who’ve been seriously injured or who have lost their homes or whose homes have been directly damaged,” Mr Albanese said.

Among those is a family and their beloved cat who were rescued by a police helicopter as their regional Victorian home was destroyed by fire.

A statewide fire ban has been declared as firefighters battle blazes that have scorched at least 115 buildings and more than 300,000 hectares of bush and farmland.

The trio, two women and a 92-year-old man, bunkered down on their remote Caveat property, seeking safety in a shipping container on their land as fire swept through the area.

The family, who have lost their home, slept in their car on Friday night.

With no road access, police used a helicopter on Saturday morning to transport the group and their cat Grisha to Seymour.

One of the women, an 82-year-old, had her hair singed by the flames and was treated for burns to her hands.

Victoria Police Air Wing Tactical Flight Officer Brittany Smith described the destruction from the air as heartbreaking.

“By no means do we encourage people to shelter in shipping containers however on this occasion all I can say is this family is extremely lucky,” she said.

“It was good we were able to get in and get them out. We were glad we could provide assistance when they needed us.”

A state of emergency has been declared for 20 local government areas.

Several emergency level blazes were dotted across the state but firefighting efforts were concentrated on a huge blaze in Victoria’s centre and another in the northeast, near the NSW border.

A blaze that ripped through Harcourt, northeast of Castlemaine in the Central Highlands, claimed at least 50 structures, including homes and businesses.

Bonnie and Remy Sowman were speechless as they looked upon the blackened ruins of their cafe, which held a special place in the Harcourt community.

The couple made the decision to pack their bags and leave both their home and business on Friday when the conditions began to change.

She described the day as a blur.

“We had a friend who posted some footage and it was bad along where we live. Most of the night we thought our house was gone,” she told AAP.

They received news on Friday night that their home was safe but the situation was very different for their business.

“We’re just grateful that we got out, everybody’s safe,” she said.

“We live in a beautiful community where everyone will pitch in and help and we’ve been completely inundated with beautiful offers from people.”

The danger is not over despite the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting milder weather on Sunday, with winds easing but changing direction.

CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan said conditions had eased but there was a long way to go before fires were brought under control.