Australia fires leave scenes of total destruction

Australians in areas of New South Wales and Victoria woke up to scenes of utter devastation on Wednesday morning.

The towns of Conjola Park in New South Wales and Mallacoota in Victoria have been particularly badly impacted by Tuesday's devastating bush fires.

More than 50 properties were destroyed in Conjola Park, while dozens of cars were also destroyed, some melted.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said firefighting crews would take advantage of easing conditions to restore power to critical infrastructure and conduct some back burning.

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) confirmed three people lost their lives on Tuesday and one person was still not accounted for.

A father and his son died in Cobargo while trying to save their property and the body of a man was found in a burnt-out car at Yatte Yattah near Lake Conjola.

In Mallacoota, Victoria, dozens of home were destroyed on New Year's Eve.

Some 4,000 Mallacoota residents sheltered on the beach to escape the raging inferno that was destroying some of their homes and had turned the sky red.

A popular tourist destination, the town is in Victoria's far east and accessible only by the Princes Highway which remained cut off.