Victoria: Australian disaster crews are stepping up their hard work to undertake wildfires in the state of Victoria, as the death toll rises to 65.

About 30,000 firefighters are battling a number of main fires, and the number of dead is probable to go up.

Victoria Premier John Brumby said he had accepted an propose from the federal government to send in the army.

Whole towns have been ruined in the fires, fanned by high temperatures and random winds.

Forecasters are predicting further enormously hot weather in the region - which has seen record temperatures of 47C (117F) in recent days.

Officials say they are battling in opposition to the most horrible fire circumstances in the state’s history.

Witnesses described seeing walls of flames, trees blowing up and the skies raining ash, as fires tore across 30,000 hectares (115 sq miles) of forests, farmland and towns.

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At least 600 homes have been shattered in Victoria and about 14,000 homes are with no power.

Most of the people who died came from a bunch of small towns to the north of Melbourne.

At least 12 people died in the town of Kinglake, four at Wandong, four at St Andrews and three at Strathewen.

One Strathewen resident told ABC local radio how people had witnessed “absolutely horrific” scenes as they had helped battle the flames.

“The school’s gone, the hall’s gone… some people left it too late. We’ve lost friends, and we’re just waiting for more - children, loved ones,” she said.

The town of Marysville, with about 500 residents, was said to have been burned to the ground.

Local fire officer Greg Esnouf said: “We’re starting to get some reports in now that are very saddening. This latest report says Marysville possibly one building left standing - that’s just shocking.”

One person was declared dead in Marysville, but mainly residents managed to cover from the fire in a local park.

Tens of thousands of firefighters have been tiresome to hold blazes in two other states - New South Wales and South Australia - but the fires there were basically restricted or burning away from residential areas.

The fire service is using water-bombing aircraft to hold fires and thousands of volunteers are using water hoses.
“It’s obviously a tragic day and a tragic week in our history,” Mr Brumby said.

Late on Sunday, he said he had acknowledged an offer from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to send in troops to ease overstretched crisis crews.

“Hell in all its fury has visited the good people of Victoria in the last 24 hours,” said Mr Rudd.

Bushfires are regular in Australia, but the existing blazes are the most deadly since 1983, when 75 people died on a day that became known as Ash Wednesday.