The ACT will send its fifth taskforce to Victoria's fire fields today.
The taskforce is being sent at the request of local authorities and will consist of full-time, departmental and volunteer firefighters along with 15 vehicles.
The group leaving Curtin's ACT Emergency Services Agency headquarters about noon will offer similar support as previous deployments including intensive-care paramedics, mechanics, an ICT technician and ACT SES volunteers
A reminder of the danger of the disaster zone came yesterday when a volunteer firefighter from South Australia was taken to hospital after being knocked out by a falling branch while fighting a blaze at Snobs Creek, near Eildon.
A spokesman for the Department of Sustainability and Environment said the firefighter was working on a containment line at the Murrindindi Complex fire when the accident happened.'The incident again highlights the threat of unstable trees to firefighters after Canberra's David Balfour was killed by a falling tree branch on the Victorian fire fields last week.
Also yesterday, the Insurance Council of Australia said bushfire victims had lodged insurance claims worth more than $800million, with 60 per cent of claims assessed.
The massive claims bill came as police said that they would need at least another two weeks to finalise the death toll from the disaster, with fears about 30 people are unaccounted for.
Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said yesterday that police would recheck about 3000 homes in the Kinglake district and the destroyed Marysville.
The official death toll stands at 210.
Police have experienced difficulty determining how many people are unaccounted for, as only about 6500 people of the 17,000 registered with the Red Cross have so far been verified. However, Superintendent Rod Collins said that the number of missing was most likely ''in the 20s to 30s range''.
It was possible that not all of those missing would be found dead in the fire grounds.
Senior police, State Coroner Jennifer Coate and Premier John Brumby have all stressed that the dead are people and not statistics, and each would be treated with the appropriate care.
Mr Walshe said early last week it would take several days to learn how many people were unaccounted for, however he said yesterday it would take much longer than expected.
''The area that is of most difficulty for us is the Kinglake, Murrindindi and Marysville fire ground, which is very large,'' he said.
''We estimate that there could be potentially up to 3000 structures that will need to be searched under the coroner's direction.
''We are putting a lot of police resources into that area but it's going to take us a period of time, we estimate a minimum of two weeks to complete the total search.''
Justice Coate has declared six fire grounds off limits to everyone except emergency services, and residents' movements have been restricted and limited. The restrictions in Bendigo and Gippsland could be lifted as early as today.
Many roads in the Kinglake area are fully or partially closed. ''Unfortunately we think there is potential for us to find further human remains, and that's one of the reasons why we have to go and do this thorough searching,'' Mr Walshe said.
''That's the reason why the coroner has enacted a restriction on the fire areas.''
Meanwhile, a journalist and a cameraman with ABC1's Lateline TV program were yesterday quizzed by police for allegedly breaching the Kinglake crime scene.
At least one television news crew seems to have breached the restrictions, with two men believed to be from Lateline questioned yesterday.
''Last evening [Tuesday] we did arrest a journalist and a cameraman, we have seized film and footage that was taken in the Kinglake area,'' Mr Walshe said.
''No charges have been laid at this point in time and there are further inquiries pending.''
An ABC spokeswoman confirmed two employees had been detained and tapes were seized.
''The crew was filming interviews that had been prearranged with local residents to continue coverage of the aftermath of the bushfires,'' the spokeswoman said. with AAP
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