A 67-year-old man is the first person to die from the bushfires in Victoria this season.
Mick Roberts had not made contact with family on Tuesday and on Wednesday and his niece Leah Parson said he had been found dead inside his burnt out home.
“He’s not missing anymore ... sorry but his body has been found in his house ... very sad day for us to [start] the year but we’re a bloody tight family and we will never forget our mate and my beautiful Uncle Mick,” Ms Parsons wrote on the East Gippsland fire season 2019-2020 Facebook page.
Victoria police said they are en route to the area and are aware of the situation.
'Just devastated'
The 67-year-old great grandfather was found dead inside his home in Buchan this morning.
Mr Roberts’ niece, Leah Parsons, said he had been painting his house with two friends before the fire came upon them.
She told the Herald Sun newspaper that Mick's friends attempted to get him to flee with them into the river on the property, but he resisted.
"They ran into the river on the property but they couldn’t get him to go.
"He said he needed to go into the shed for a minute and they never saw him again."
Neighbours, family and friends have posted messages of support for the family.
"I’m just devastated about Mick, bloody stubborn bugger and a great mate if you were one," Phylby Wright posted on Facebook.
"RIP Mick my neighbour across the river. Will miss waking you up early for coffee on frosty mornings," Lauren Needham wrote on Facebook.
Four people still missing
Earlier on Wednesday Premier Daniel Andrews said four people were still missing, but would not say what communities in East Gippsland the people belonged to.
"Everything is being done to try and establish the whereabouts of these people," he told reporters at the Bairnsdale incident control centre on Wednesday.
After spending more than a day on emergency alert, the highest possible fire warning, the threat in East Gippsland and at Corryong in northeast Victoria had
been downgraded to watch and acts.
However, the risk of flare-ups remains. Conditions are expected to worsen on Saturday and dry lightning has continued to spark new fires.
Helicopters fly out firefighters to Mallacoota
Helicopters will fly out 90 firefighters stuck at the isolated coastal holiday town of Mallacoota near the NSW border so there can be a shift change.
"We've got choppers taking 90 firefighters out of the Mallacoota area, they can't be removed any other way - we're essentially doing a shift change by the air," Mr Andrews said.
"We've never done that before, getting firefighters that are essentially isolated in that Mallacoota community out and fresh teams going in."
Power down
More than 500,000 hectares have been burnt as three fires in East Gippsland combined on Tuesday.
The blaze at Corryong has burnt 109,000 hectares and is also at risk of spreading and merging.
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 because the fires were still burning and it was unsafe to attend and assess the extent of damage.
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.
Water brought in to reduce health risk in Mallacoota
A boil water notice was put in place for Mallacoota from Tuesday to reduce public health risks.
A NSW police boat brought in water to Mallacoota on Tuesday and a Victoria water police boat is taking 1.6 tonnes of water on Wednesday.
A barge from Melbourne with two weeks' supply of food, water and fuel is also making its way to the town.
After a request from the premier on Tuesday, military personnel will start arriving to help with the relief effort.
Aircraft including Black Hawk helicopters are expected to land in the east of the state on Wednesday with other aircraft and naval vessels due in the coming days to help move people out of the area.
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.
Additional reporting: AAP
