Detectives have charged a man in relation to a fatal collision which killed a man working as part of the bushfire response in Thornton on January 3.

Investigators have been told a car and a ute were travelling along Goulburn Valley Highway when they collided head on about 1.45pm.

Emergency services were not able to revive a 43-year-old Alexandra man, the passenger from the ute, and he died at the scene.

The driver of the ute, a 47-year-old Narbethong man, was taken to hospital in a serious condition.

The driver of the car, a 46-year-old Alexandra man, was initially airlifted to hospital in a critical condition and has since been charged with dangerous driving causing death.

He has been remanded to appear at Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court on April 28.

The death has been added to the bushfire toll as the 43-year-old man was on-duty while working on the East Gippsland bushfire response.