Fourteen people have been killed in the savage bushfires which set Victoria ablaze on Saturday.
Victoria police confirmed the deaths on Saturday night and said they fear the figure may reach into the 40s.
Deputy police commissioner Kieran Walshe said all the deaths were in a massive blaze northwest of Melbourne - six at Kinglake, four at nearby Wandong, three at Strathewen and one in Clonbinane.
Mr Walshe said he believed the Kinglake victims were all in the same car.
He believed arsonists were responsible for some of the nine major fires ripping across the state.
"We suspect a number of the fires have been deliberately lit," Mr Walshe told reporters.
"This is an absolute tragedy for the state and we believe the figure may even get worse," Mr Walshe said.
"We base that on the fact we're only just getting into these areas now ... to search buildings and properties these have been very very significant fires ... the figure could get into the 40s."
The fire started in East Kilmore, 80km north of Melbourne, and covered a huge area as it pushed 30km east to Kinglake, through the small townships of Wandong, Strathewen and Clonbinane.
Mr Walshe said he could not determine whether the victims were civilians or firefighters. He said identifications could not be carried out until at least Sunday.
Kinglake resident Peter Mitchell said the town had no time to act as the fire raced through.
"The whole township is pretty much on fire," Peter Mitchell told ABC Radio.
"There was no time to do anything ... it came through in minutes.
"There'll be a massive loss of houses ... there'll be a lot of us homeless.
"All those who have made it into town will be fine. The others will be sheltering and working on their fire plans, God help them."
Mr Mitchell said he was with around 200 residents holed up in the local pub and that no fire trucks could get into the town.
The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) said at least 100 homes have been destroyed as nine major blazes burnt out of control across Victoria in the worst fire conditions in the state's history.
The Ash Wednesday fires in February, 1983 claimed 47 lives in Victoria and 28 in South Australia and remain the deadliest bushfire in Australian history.
More than 100 fires which started on February 16, 1983, destroyed 2,800 homes in Victoria and burnt out 210,000 hectares, while 383 homes went up in South Australia.
The Kilmore fire started at 11.49am (AEDT) and quickly spread to neighbouring towns.
But with the cool change which swept across the state late Saturday afternoon came a shift in direction of the wind which then sent the fire eastwards towards Whittlesea and the sub alpine communities of Kinglake, Healesville and Warburton.
It grew alarmingly from a 4,000 hectare blaze to one covering 30,000 hectares in just a few hours.
Five hundred firefighters on 100 trucks were battling the inferno which was threatening to push even further into the town of Broadford which was warned to be on high alert on Saturday night.
Water bombing aircraft will resume operations at first light on Sunday.
Ambulance Victoria said it had airlifted a young girl with burns from Whittlesea to Royal Melbourne Hospital and had set up casualty centres at Whittlesea and Kinglake to deal with mounting injuries.
More than 3,000 firefighters and many more residents battled other major fronts at Horsham, Coleraine, Weerite, Bunyip, Churchill, Dargo, Murrindindi and Redesdale in all corners of the scorched state as the searing heat in the mid-40s and high winds exceeded authorities' dire fears.
Several areas of Gippsland in the east were on high alert as an uneasy dusk fell on Saturday night, while the Horsham fire was downgraded early in the evening.
Fifty houses were reportedly lost in the Bendigo area in the Redesdale blaze.
The cool change early Saturday evening was expected to create more volatile conditions.
"It hasn't helped the firefighters, only presented them with new fronts," a CFA spokeswoman said.
The CFA and DSE (Department of Sustainability and Environment) warned Victorians to prepare to be hit by fire late on Saturday night and to be especially prepared for ember attack.
La Trobe Valley power stations were under threat as a fire on the eastern fringes of the Strzelecki Ranges spread toward the Gippsland coast, threatening towns such as Yarram, Langsbrough and Manns Beach.
"It is pretty well every part of the state except the far northwest," CFA Deputy Chief Fire Officer John Haynes said.
"The fire weather ... was extreme and off the scale."
The Horsham fire burnt 5,700 hectares and claimed at least three homes, the town's golf club and several sheds, while the Bunyip State Park fire reached 2,400 hectares and destroyed some houses in the town of Labertouche.
Victoria Premier John Brumby said one fire threatening his parents' home in Coleraine was stopped literally on their doorstep.
"I would like to thank DSE, CFA and SES (State Emergency Services) fire fighters and volunteers who have fought tirelessly throughout the day to protect Victorian people and property," Mr Brumby said.
One man, aged in his 40s, is in critical condition after suffering burns to 50 per cent of his body when he tried to move stock in Coleraine area.
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