Firefighters are making use of a short-lived reprieve to get an upper hand on blazes still burning across eastern Victoria, as help arrives to communities reeling from days of devastation.
After spending more than a day at emergency level, bushfires in East Gippsland were all downgraded to Watch and Act as of Thursday morning.
Fires in NSW have also been downgraded by Thursday morning but authorities are warning the relief will not be for long and it is time to evacuate before deadly conditions arrive on Saturday.
Meanwhile in Western Australia, a catastrophic danger warning is in place for the Goldfields districts amid predicted soaring temperatures.
Travellers have been stranded in remote desert areas for two days, with parts of the Eyre Highway shut.
That same heatwave will make its way to South Australia then to the Australian east coast in coming days. It leaves a short window for firefighters battling the NSW and Victorian blazes to get an upper hand.
Naval ships are expected to dock at Mallacoota, one of the Victorian coastal towns where victims have been sheltering. The ships will bring food and supplies to locals and tourists. They may be used to evacuate people left stranded by the fires.
Black Hawk helicopters arrived late Wednesday night to take vulnerable victims away from the smoke-impacted region.
The total area burnt across Victoria and NSW has exceeded that of the Black Saturday bushfires of February 2009.
Conditions are expected to worsen on Saturday and dry lightning has continued to spark new fires.
Premier Daniel Andrews spent Wednesday in East Gippsland where he said emotions were running high.
“I spoke with people today and they just said it was hurricane-like, horrifying, terrifying, the most frightening experience of their life,” Mr Andrews said.
“The next few days are going to be a lot of hard work and the next few months will be a very long and steady process of helping these communities to rebuild.”
So far, confirmed property losses are 24 structures at Buchan, 19 at Sarsfield, 10 at Mallacoota and up to 15 at Cudgewa.
Power has been cut to more than 7000 properties at East Gippsland and more than 1800 in the northeast. AusNet said it could take days to restore power.
Phones remain cut across much of the region and people are struggling to communicate with loved ones and get the latest information on the fire risk.
After a request from the premier on Tuesday, military personnel have begun helping with the relief effort, including undertaking rapid damage assessments.
Naval vessels including HMAS Choules left Sydney bound for the East Gippsland coast on Tuesday evening and training vessel MV Sycamore has also been deployed.
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