'Real fears': Seven people missing in bushfires across two states

Four people are missing and homes have been destroyed in bushfires that have ripped through Victoria's East Gippsland.

Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed the missing people at a press conference on Tuesday morning in Melbourne.

"There are four people unaccounted for. We can't confirm their whereabouts," Mr Andrews told reporters.

The missing people are not firefighters, he said.

“We can't account for them so we can't give you further information,” he told media about 11:30am.

“We do have real fears for their safety. They've been in active fire environments.

“Similarly, and I know it's frustrating, there have been a very significant loss of property, very significant loss of stock. We can't give you an accurate picture of that just yet.”

The Premier implored people to “look out for each other” and heed the warnings of authorities.

“Be grateful that we have such an amazing emergency services family, and do everything you can to have the best information to make the best decisions and I'd just again make the point – if you are issued with an instruction, please follow that instruction and do so promptly,” he said.

Meanwhile three people are also missing in the NSW bushfires on Tuesday. They have been described by NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons as three potential fatalities.

Two of those unaccounted for people are in Cobargo and one is from the community of Belowra.

Almost 100 blazes continue to burn across NSW, with dozens uncontained and eight on Tuesday at "emergency" level.

As thousands of people in the Victorian town of Mallacoota have sought refuge on the beach as flames threaten nearby, fires crews are waiting for a wind change to help alleviate the situation.

If necessary in towns where residents remain trapped on beaches, authorities could start evacuating people via sea.

Mr Andrews had been text messaging with Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday morning about support for the recovery effort.

"I'll speak with him after we finish here. We've made some requests to the (Australian Defence Force) for their support, both in terms of making damage assessments but also some of these isolated communities can be accessed by sea," Mr Andrews said.

"We have a range of plans in place ourselves, but there may be ways in which the ADF can support us."

Requests for the help of 70 firefighters have also been made to Canada and the US, he added.

More than 200 new fires rage in Victoria

Addressing the media about 11am (local time) on Tuesday, Victoria’s Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said Monday was a difficult day for fire crews as conditions worsened.

“Yesterday (Monday) it was forecast to be a challenging and dangerous day for Victoria in terms of fires. And that's exactly what transpired. What we saw across the state was more than 200 new fires yesterday, a further 60 new fires that started from midnight last night,” Mr Crisp said.

“Whether you look from Bairnsdale right through to Mallacoota, we've had impacted across the whole of East Gippsland. As you would imagine, it is very early days yet and we don't have specific details about property losses but we do have significant property losses across all of East Gippsland.

“At this stage there are significant losses.”

Authorities have started the process of assessing how many properties have been destroyed by the fires, which grew rapidly due to self-generated weather systems sparking dry lightning.

More than 200,000 hectares of land is burning in East Gippsland.

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