Fire authorities have defended their "stay and defend, or go" policy despite angry survivors saying they had little or no warning before the disastrous Victorian bushfires struck.
Since the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires, authorities have told residents to decide on days of high fire danger to go early, or to stay and defend their homes if they are well prepared.
Many of the 147 people killed in the Kinglake region alone died as they tried to escape the approaching fire front.
Stories emerged of people perishing as they fled, while their houses survived, and others who died while defending their homes.
Some survivors complained that fire authorities did not tell them to flee.
Among them was Tammy Reece from Kinglake West, who said she was not home but her partner and six children at the house had no clue of the danger as the fire raced towards the town.
"My partner never got any warning at all," Ms Reece said.
"No one came past and said get out.
"They should have got around and should have done more, that is the whole thing."
Although her family escaped the blaze, Ms Reece still did not know on Tuesday if her house was standing.
Silvo Hercog, also from Kinglake West, listened to the radio news for information and was angry he heard little about the fire.
He was driving to Yarra Glen when he called his wife at their home.
"She didn't know anything until I rang her at half-past five and by that time the fire was already up the mountain," Mr Hercog said.
"There was no evacuation, there was no one to say stay or go now.
"There wasn't enough warning."
But Country Fire Authority (CFA) Chief Fire Officer Russell Rees said fires could arrive without warning.
Mr Rees said the stay and defend policy was based on sound evidence but could be reviewed.
"It is the application of that policy and a lack of an alternative that we need to work on," Mr Rees told reporters.
"People need to understand that a late departure is the most deadly.
"We have said, and it is clearly evident, that fires can come without warning and very rapidly, and that you may not receive a warning and that you may not have a fire truck at your front gate.
"The clear evidence is that the most dangerous place to be is on the road."
He said emergency services had warned last week that Victoria was facing an unprecedented fire threat over the weekend.
He was "enormously proud" of the efforts of fire authorities but said they were ready "to learn and further improve" their response.
Naomi Brown, chief executive of the Australian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council, said now was not the time to change the policy, which had been in place for up to 25 years.
Victorian Premier John Brumby said a royal commission into the bushfires would "look at all of the facts, all of the information, whether it's the stay-or-go policy that's reviewed, there'll be so many things I think which will be on the table".
He said he wanted the process to result in recommendations that would help save Victoria from another similar tragedy in the future.
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