A fire has destroyed six fuel tankers and sent exploding gas cylinders flying into neighbouring properties on Victoria's Bellarine Peninsula.
The fire started in a shed full of gas cylinders behind a petrol station on High Street in Drysdale just before 1:00am on Wednesday.
"The petrol tankers have pretty much melted," CFA operations manager Wayne Aylmer said.
"The other issue we are concerned about is the cylinders that have exploded. Where have they landed?
"I'd be surprised if [they] haven't damaged a couple of houses or cars."
Nearby homes were evacuated and it took firefighters several hours to control the blaze.
The CFA said the fuel tankers were carrying diesel and unleaded petrol, and some of it leaked onto the ground and caught fire, making the situation worse.
"The structure is totally destroyed by fire," Brendan MacDonald from the Drysdale CFA said.
"It was difficult fire to fight," he said.
"We had exploding cylinders and smoke.
"We had 10 appliances on scene and 40 crew."
But firefighters said they were pleased with the outcome, especially with so much petrol on the ground.
"We were a little bit concerned about some local residents," Mr Aylmer said.
"There's fairly significant losses on the site but I think we have done a pretty good job of containing it to just the site."
The CFA is still assessing the damage to neighbouring properties.
