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The fire, which started at 1pm on Sunday afternoon, is in a disused part of the Hazelwood mine and was expected to burn until Wednesday, but now could burn for longer.
A spokeswoman for the Country Fire Authority told International Longwall News 100 firefighters on the job had encountered strong winds overnight and were concentrating on protecting the mine’s infrastructure.
The rescue effort will continue for the next few days and weather conditions are expected to ease.
The mine is in the Latrobe Valley and the cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
Hazelwood produces around 18 million tonnes of brown coal to power the adjacent Hazelwood power station.
Victoria has had several coal mine fires over the past five years but the CFA said none were significant.
