"Fire activity is still very active and will continue to be ongoing this afternoon,'' the spokeswoman said.

Twenty-five bushfires are still burning throughout the state. More than 750 properties properties have been lost and at least 350,000 hectares have so far been razed.

The Healesville and Toolangi communities, north-east of Melbourne, came under heavy ember attack this morning. There were no immediate reports of lost property or lives.

The CFA spokeswoman said the Maroondah/Yarra blaze was an ongoing concern, as were fires in the Kinglake/Whittelsea area, where 147 people died at the weekend.

The communities of Glenhope and in the areas of Boyers Road, Haires Lane, Buntings Road and Coombe Lane are also on alert as DSE and CFA tanker crews continue work on the Redesdale-Coliban Park fire perimeter near Bendigo.

The fire is no longer expanding outwards, but areas of vegetation inside the perimeter are still burning, the CFA said.

Premier John Brumby said today support for the victims had been overwhelming.

More than $14 million has so far been donated to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund. A condolence book has also been launched for messages to bushfire victims and emergency crews.

"Across the state, many lives have been lost, many people have been injured, houses and possessions have been wrecked and whole communities almost completely destroyed,'' he said.

"Victorians are responding to the tragedy by pulling together to assist those whose lives have been changed forever by these devastating bushfires.''

Most of the latest people confirmed dead from the weekend's blazes were killed in the small towns of Strathewen and St Andrews, on Melbourne's bushy north-eastern fringe.

There are now 22 people confirmed dead at St Andrews, a town with a population of about 1500 people.

Strathewen, with only 450 people prior to the bushfires, lost 30 residents to the inferno that swept through on Saturday.

The deaths followed the devastating loss of 35 people from the town of Kinglake.

Victoria Police allowed a partial reopening of roads into Kinglake this afternoon to allow residents to return to the area.

At 7am today, deaths from the fires had been confirmed in Arthurs Creek (3), Callignee (11), Callignee Upper (1), Clonbinane (1), Eaglehawk (1), Flowerdale (4), Hazeldene (2), Hazelwood (4), Heathcote Junction (1), Humevale (6), Jeeralang (1), Kinglake (35), Kinglake West (4), Koornalla (4), Marysville (15), Mudgegonga (2), Narbethong (9), St Andrews (22), Steeles Creek (7), Strathewen (30), Taggerty (3), Unknown (2), Wondong (4), Yarra Glen (1).

Whole towns have been declared crime scenes, with fears many of the fires that broke out on Saturday and claimed so many lives were deliberately lit.

A temporary morgue has been set up at Victoria's State Coronial Services Centre to accommodate the mounting toll of victims.

So far, 101 victims had been received into the facility.

Victoria Police today announced a new taskforce to investigate whether the fires had been deliberately lit in a bid to apprehend offenders.

Police say they are closing in on an arsonist thought responsible for the deadly Churchill-Jeeralang fire in Gippsland and recent fires at nearby Boolarra.

It's expected police will tomorrow release an image of a man sought for questioning over the fires.

"We'll soon be in a position to provide face images of people we believe responsible," Morwell Detective Sergeant Brett Kahan told The Age.

Authorities fear the worst of the fires could take weeks to contain.

Specialist teams used in the aftermath of the Bali bombings have been recruited for the gruesome task of locating and identifying victims of the fires.

Meanwhile, Mr Brumby has announced a royal commission to examine the state's emergency response and possibly review the longstanding "stay and defend or leave early" policy aimed at mitigating the risk of fatalities from bushfires.

The Premier this morning defended the policy, reminding people to leave threatened areas early or make sure their fire plans were "100 per cent ready'' to defend their homes.

"That policy remains current, that policy has served our state well for more than 20 years,'' he told Channel Nine.

"If people make that judgement (to flee), go early. If they stay and defend, put in place a proper fire plan ... and make sure that everything is in order to protect yourself and your property.''

The largest of the fires, known as the Kinglake Complex, has consumed 220,000 hectares of land and more than 550 homes, killing the majority of the victims - including those at St Andrews, Strathewen and nearby Kinglake.

Thirty-five people perished at Kinglake - the greatest single loss of life in these fires - when a ferocious wall of flame swept straight up the heavily timbered Great Dividing Range, taking all in its path.

Interstate fire crews and disaster identification experts have joined Victorian crews to tackle the bushfires. The reinforcements include 300 firefighters from NSW, 95 from the ACT, 93 from Tasmania and 22 from Western Australia.

A further 70 firefighters from South Australia are expected to arrive in Melbourne tonight.

A toll-free number has been established for offers of temporary accommodation to Victoria's bushfire victims.

Anyone with accommodation on offer should register at Victorian Bushfire Accommodation Donation Hotline on 1800 006 468.

SP AusNet crews are working around the clock in an effort to restore power to 6,000 homes which lost electricity because of the Victorian bushfires.

The electricity supplier has around 600 connections to rebuild due to the Bunyip and Churchill fires in Gippsland and another 5,400 affected by the Kinglake and Beechworth fires.

- with AAP