It was a sleepless night for dozens of residents in Melbourne’s east who had to evacuate their homes as a bushfire tore through the area.

One property in Montrose was destroyed, while another was significantly damaged.

Kerri Maggs said it was “quite scary.”

“The kids were quite frightened. Our daughter was absolutely hysterical,” she said

Dozens of residents were forced to evacuate their homes.

“I went outside and the fire was like 100 metres away, the whole sky was red,” local Cas Churchill said.

“The fire had flared up there were embers coming across.

“The first alert that came through on the phones was at 1.20am. Almost an hour and a half after the fire was right on our door.”

Val Platt said there was little warning.

“We were in bed and I heard somebody yelling about getting out now,” she said.

The fire began early yesterday afternoon and CFA crews thought they had it under control.

But with a change in conditions overnight it doubled in size, burning 40 hectares.

“The fact that the wind conditions actually picked up and with the dryness and the uphill run, it just took off this morning,” deputy incident controller Mike Wilmott said.

An evacuation centre was set up at a Kilsyth reserve where 25 residents took shelter.

Today most were able to go home as the emergency warning was downgraded.

With wet weather bringing relief for crews, the clean-up began.

Even with the rain, residents in the area were still being urged to monitor conditions as they could change, but the CFA says they’re hoping they’ll have the fire well under control by tomorrow at the latest.

The cause of the bushfire is still being investigated.