The scene on the wharf at Mallacoota. Photo / via Twitter
Towns in Victoria's East Gippsland have been hit by out-of-control bushfires and homes are expected to be lost, while 4000 people are sheltering on a beach.
Thousands of people, including tourists and locals, are trapped on a beach in East Gippsland as fires rage around them.
A massive fire is set to hit the beach in Mallacoota and locals say the sky has turned black.
The fire has cut power to the town.
"It's not pleasant, it's pitch dark here and the emergency vehicles have disappeared from sight," resident and local community radio presenter Francesca Winterson told ABC Gippsland.
"The power's been out here a long time and we've run out of solar.
"My home's in the fire path, I won't have a home, that's just the way it's going to be, we have to try and be calm."
AusNet Services says 5700 properties in East Gippsland without electricity due to the fires, and another 1800 in northeast Victoria also down.
Mobile and landline phone lines are also down in parts.
People in Mallacoota have tweeted saying they have got life jackets on and they're about to jump in the water.
Victoria's Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said firefighters are protecting 4000 people on the town's foreshore this morning.
They have been there throughout the night.
It's understood the plan was if the fire got too close, they'd be surrounded by CFA volunteers and they would create a wall of water to protect them as a last defence.
Some residents in Mallacoota are telling local ABC radio and tweeting that the fire has now hit the town.
They say sirens are ringing out and that fireys are instructing people to jump in the water.
A resident in Mallacoota has posted an eerie video from the town's foreshore.
Jann Gilbert, who took the video at 9.22am, said the current situation is "really scary".
"Absolutely unbelievable," she can be heard saying in the clip. "It's pitch black, embers are falling from the sky and you can't really see anything."
Nationals MP Darren Chester, who represents Gippsland, told ABC, "I was talking to a mate in Mallacoota, he says it's like midnight there, it's pitch black. They have a lot of smoke. They have embers falling."
"We have three strike teams in Mallacoota that will be looking after 4000 people on the beach as the fire goes into that particular town," Mr Crisp said.
"We are naturally very concerned about communities that have become isolated and to get an appreciation about other losses there could be we'll be putting helicopters up doing reconnaissance flights."
Mallacoota local Don Ashby told the ABC he expected damage to homes. "I've been in bushfires before, but not like this," he said.
"My house is not saveable (sic), it's right on the edge of town, right where the fire's coming and there's just no way."
Authorities say a fire will hit the town's foreshore within the next 30 minutes.
Earlier this morning, residents were posting pictures of a "horrific" red sky over the coastal town.
Properties have been lost in the region as out-of-control bushfires rage, but it's too early to confirm just how many, authorities say.
Fires rapidly grew overnight due to winds and lightning strikes and have ripped through more than 200,000 hectares in Victoria's East Gippsland, it was estimated early this morning.
Rapidly moving fires in NSW have suddenly flared up this morning and they're headed east, towards the coast.
Meanwhile, a firefighter has been killed in a truck rollover near Albury in New South Wales, as out-of-control infernos threatens homes and lives in three states, with conditions set to worsen in some regions.
Severe fire danger is also forecast for Exmouth Gulf Coast and Gascoyne Coast in Western Australia today.
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