He and his family fled their Sarsfield home in Victoria's East Gippsland region on Monday night as bushfires engulfed properties around them.

"Once we saw it getting closer to the highway there we thought that's our escape route gone, so we went," he told AAP after going back to see what was left on Tuesday.

Mr Johnston's bungalow burned down along with the laundry, but the flames stopped at the edge of the house.

"(I'm feeling) pretty good because the house is still here and I put a lot of preparation into keeping it there.

"Ours is only one of two that I've seen that have survived on the whole road of about 13 houses."

A few properties down the road, Steve Faux and his father Gerald aren't so lucky.

All that's left of Gerald's home is charred and twisted corrugated iron.

"It just doesn't seem real," his son said.

"What can you think, (it's) just devastation.

"He (dad) only just turned 80 years old.

"This is the forever house and now it's gone."

Four people are missing and eight emergency warnings remain in place after fires ripped through more than 200,000 hectares.

So far, 19 structures are confirmed destroyed at Sarsfield and 24 at Buchan.

At a relief centre in nearby Bairnsdale, Shannon Hutchings does not think there is anything left of her family's Clifton Creek property.

She, her husband and their four children sought shelter after Monday's weather turned and the fire raged towards their home.

"We have most likely lost everything at this point," she said.

"We had to leave our five horses out there. We cut fences and gave them the best chance we could.

"The fire's turning around back on towards us. So pretty much what it didn't take on the first one it may well on the second swipe."

The defence force is being brought in to help firefighters and the state government has announced a bushfire response task force to assist recovery.

East Gippsland Mayor John White earlier said it was difficult to figure out how many homes had been lost across the region.

"It is no comfort to those who have lost their homes but there are a great number that have been saved."

He said it felt eerie driving through the Sarsfield area to survey the damage.

"It was almost in slow motion. There was just a bit of smoke wafting up from a few trees ... just total blackness. Everything was burnt."

Meanwhile at Mallacoota in the state's far east, thousands of people sheltering on a beach cheered as the main fire front bypassed the town.

More than 20 bushfires continue to burn across Victoria and milder weather is expected in East Gippsland over the coming days.

But authorities say people cannot afford to relax just yet.

Australian Associated Press