Two choppers will be on standby throughout the season ready to respond to fires across central Victoria.

One has the ability to drop 3000 litres of water at a time, the other acts as its spotter and carries an air attack supervisor who directs operations.

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The helicopters have been stationed in Bendigo for several summers and have become critical in quickly stopping the spread of fires because they can arrive at a fire ground so quickly.

They often arrive before other fire crews arrive in trucks.

They were critical as firefighters raced to bring fires in Huntly and Bobs Street, White Hills under control last summer.

In the latter fire, residents were evacuated after a fire erupted in grass in warm and gusty conditions at about 3.30pm on December 28.

The fire burnt empty land in an industrial area and was contained before it badly damaged homes, but was not brought under control for nearly three hours and residents were evacuated from a number of homes.

Seven days later a fire broke out in Huntly at about 3pm.

Firefighters battled high temperatures and strong southerly winds, threatening three homes. People evacuated if they could, including helping more animals out of a rescue centre in the area.

A helicopter dropped water on the fire throughout the afternoon until firefighters brought the blaze under control at around 6pm.

The large water bombing helicopter can fill its 3000-litre tank in around 40 seconds, by dropping a three-metre snorkel into a water source such as dams, lakes and reservoirs.

Bendigo-based aircraft are part of Victoria's fleet of 51 firefighting aircraft that will be strategically positioned across the state this summer.