Police expect the death toll could climb further as they search the ruins of wild fires that flared on Saturday and continued to burn north of the city on Sunday.

Thousands of firefighters battled for a second straight day on Sunday to contain the blazes, which witnesses said reached four storeys high, raced across the land like speeding trains and spewed hot embers as far as the horizon.

Many of those confirmed dead were trapped in cars trying to flee one of the infernos. State broadcaster ABC showed pictures of a small town, Marysville, razed to the ground.

Wildfires are a natural annual event in Australia, but this year a combination of scorching weather, drought and tinder-dry bush has created prime conditions for blazes to take hold.

The government put the army on standby and set up emergency relief funds, but also faced some pressure from Greens lawmakers who have been urging it to stiffen its climate-change policies to reduce the risk of more such summer disasters.