About 30,000 firefighters are battling nine major fires, and the authorities say they expect more fatalities.

Victoria Premier John Brumby said he was considering an offer from the federal government to send in the army.

Entire townships have been destroyed in the fires, fanned by soaring temperatures and unpredictable winds.

Forecasters are predicting more extremely hot weather in the region - which has seen record temperatures of 47C (117F) in recent days.

'Absolutely horrific'

Officials say they are battling against the worst fire conditions in the state's history.

Witnesses described seeing walls of flames, trees exploding and the skies raining ash, as fires tore across 30,000 hectares (115 sq miles) of forests, farmland and towns.

At least 100 homes have been destroyed in Victoria and

about 14,000 homes are without power.

Most of the people who died came from a cluster of small towns to the north of Melbourne.

Six people died in the township of Kinglake, four at Wandong, three at Strathewen and one at Clonbinane.

One Strathewen resident told ABC local radio how people had witnessed "absolutely horrific" scenes as they had helped battle the flames.

"The school's gone, the hall's gone... some people left it too late. We've lost friends, and we're just waiting for more - children, loved ones," she said.

The town of Marysville, with about 500 residents, was said to have been burned to the ground.

Local fire officer Greg Esnouf said: "We're starting to get some reports in now that are very saddening. This latest report says Marysville possibly one building left standing - that's just shocking."

Residents were reported to be safe after they sheltered from the blaze in a local park.

'Tragic day'

Tens of thousands of firefighters are trying to contain blazes in two other states - New South Wales and South Australia - but the fires there were largely contained or burning away from residential areas.

The fire service is using water-bombing aircraft to contain fires and thousands of volunteers are using water hoses.

"It's obviously a tragic day and a tragic week in our history," Mr Brumby said.

He said he was considering an offer from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to send the army in to relieve overstretched emergency crews.

Bushfires are common in Australia, but the current blazes are the most deadly since 1983, when 75 people died on a day that became known as Ash Wednesday.