As Victorian Premier John Brumby visited the devastated farming community of Mudgegonga, a single bunch of flowers placed in a burnt bush is the only marker of John and Sue Wilson's deaths.

The pair died in their home on Saturday night as fire ravaged the area, destroying most of the homes in the area south-east of Beechworth.

Driving through the area brings more questions than understanding of how such a thing could occur. Large amounts of grazing land and sparse trees give no obvious signs of fuel to power such heat. And where some homes are razed, adjacent rundown sheds still stand. Burnt trees neighbour others untouched by the fire that has ripped through 30,000ha of land.

Twisted metal, piles of bricks and the wreckage of two cars can only leave the faintest guess at how hot and how quick the fires rushed in.

Two friends of the couple arrived separately to pay their respects. One of them, a former workmate, carried a small digital camera to record the images so difficult to process on first look.

He said John Wilson was determined to fight off the fire from his home. A melted pumper near the home's former backyard a symbol of his effort to stave off the inferno.

Mr Wilson's defiance against the heat, friends said, was typified by him playing golf in the middle of Saturday's heat while others were bunkered down in front of air conditioners.

And another friend said he had been avoiding visiting the property for work, where he had to disconnect the phone line in his role with Telstra.

In total, authorities believe the area lost about 15 homes.

A short way up the road, Mr Brumby talked to farmers coping with the loss of their property, stock, pets and friends.

Even after three days touring the devastated state, there are still new stories of loss.

As the death toll from fires across the state continues to be revised upwards, and fears the final toll may push higher than 300, Mr Brumby said each death was a tragedy.

''I feel like every Victorian, [is wishing] that we could be able to rule a line. I wish there wasn't a single death,'' Mr Brumby said.

''To see these areas from the air ... it's just hundreds and hundreds of buildings obliterated.''