A "much-loved" father of two with decades of firefighting experience has been identified as the latest victim of the blazes in Victoria.

Key points: Bill Slade's death takes Victoria's bushfire death toll to four

Bill Slade's death takes Victoria's bushfire death toll to four The 60-year-old has been remembered as an experienced firefighter who mentored many of his colleagues

The 60-year-old has been remembered as an experienced firefighter who mentored many of his colleagues Victoria will set up a $14.4 million program to assist fire-affected families to recover and rebuild

Bill Slade, 60, was working on containing a fire in the Anglers Rest area near Omeo when he was killed by a falling tree.

"This is a significant loss for the Forest Fire Management Victoria family and for the Victorian community as a whole," Chris Hardman, chief fire officer at Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV), said.

Mr Slade worked for 40 years in firefighting and with Parks Victoria and he battled the Ash Wednesday bushfires in 1983.

He is survived by his wife Carol, daughter Steph and son Ethan.

Victoria Police will investigate the matter and prepare a report for the coroner.

"Bill was a much-loved colleague, friend and member of the Wonthaggi community," Matthew Jackson, the chief executive of Parks Victoria, said.

"He will be sorely missed by Parks Victoria, and our thoughts are with his family, wife Carol, children Ethan and Steph and colleagues and community during this deep tragedy."

Bushfire activity near Omeo in December. ( Supplied: Natalie O'Connell )

Mr Jackson said Mr Slade was a field services officer at Parks Victoria who had mentored many of his colleagues.

"At 60 years of age, working as an arduous firefighter, Bill has been one of our most experienced, long-serving and fittest firefighters," he said.

Mr Jackson said he had the "privilege" of honouring Mr Slade for his 40 years in the field late last year.

Garry Cook, deputy chief officer at the CFA, said the news was going to be tough on a lot of people.

"Everybody goes out to work and to protect lives and property and we want everybody to come home, and when somebody doesn't it's tragic news, it's very, very sad," he said.

"We feel for the family, we feel for the colleagues, and we feel for everybody in the emergency services sector who are really feeling this tragic loss today."

Those sentiments were echoed by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, who sent his condolences to Mr Slade's family and his colleagues.

"[He] was much loved and he will be missed," he said.

"I think this shows us this is still a very, very dangerous environment."

Bronwyn Hunter grew up in the small community of Bass, east of Melbourne, where Mr Slade lived and was a family friend.

She was shocked to learn of his death and said he was a "very good family man" who had recently been awarded a life membership in the local footy club.

"For years he's fought fires and every time there was a fire somewhere, we knew Billy would be there helping fight it," she said.

"The reality is … these people are putting their lives on the line and unfortunately it was someone that we knew."

The fire has split up and spread in many different directions causing headaches for residents. ( ABC News )

Anglers Rest fire 'rears its ugly head'

Elyssa Guerin is an Anglers Rest resident and said locals were saddened by Mr Slade's death.

"When you sit down and think, this is a guy who's come out to try and help us save our homes and our area … and he's lost his life for it. It's a bit hard," she said.

Despite milder conditions, Ms Guerin said there had been a lot of fire activity in the area.

"The fire is kind of spread out and split up and has gone in a few different directions," she said.

"It's just fire fronts in lots of different places, rather than just one fire front."

She said residents are constantly watching the fire.

"It's just so constant, we've been looking at this particular fire for two days and with the wind not being too erratic it's just a slow and steady burn," she said.

"At night time it just kind of trickles down and hides in a gully somewhere and then rears its ugly head once daytime starts up."

Mat Kavanagh is survived by his wife and two young children. ( Supplied: Victorian Government )

It takes the state's bushfire death toll to four, including Mat Kavanagh, another FFMV employee who was killed in a road crash on Friday, January 3.

Mr Kavanagh was remembered for his "friendly and welcoming nature, his passion for the environment and nature and his love of fly-fishing".

Authorities said he was doing the "incredibly critical work" of putting out unattended fires on the day he died.

Buchan man Mick Roberts was the first victim of the bushfire emergency, while Maramingo Creek timber worker Fred Becker was confirmed dead last weekend.

Premier heads to fire grounds

Mr Andrews travelled to Orbost and met up with ADF crews working to clear trees from the Princes Highway around Bellbird Creek.

He announced a $14.4 million program to help every person affected by the fires to get the information and services they need to recover and start rebuilding their lives.

Mr Andrews said the threat posed by dangerous trees was brought sharply into focus by Mr Slade's death. ( ABC News: Nicole Asher )

The money will be used to provide financial counselling, personal support and mental health assistance.

"I don't want them [fire victims] to have to wade through endless paperwork," he said.

"We need to make sure we are providing that dedicated support to make this difficult process as easy as it possibly can be."

Fire investigations

Mr Andrews also announced that the Inspector-General of Emergency Management, a body set up after Victoria's 2009 royal commission into bushfires, would be conducting an investigation into the fires still burning in Victoria's east and north-east.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is considering establishing a royal commission into the fires.

Mr Andrews said he discussed the idea with Mr Morrison and that he expected the royal commission would probably be more focused on a nationally coordinated effort to fight fires.



Hundreds of homes have been destroyed during the crisis, and more than 1.3 million hectares of land has been burnt.

Milder conditions this week have granted a reprieve for firefighters and emergency authorities, but huge blazes continue to burn in East Gippsland, the Upper Murray area and the state's Alpine region.

The CFA's deputy chief officer, Stephanie Rotarangi, said the next three or four days will be crucial.

"We are still seeing high levels of [fire] activity in the north-east and here in Gippsland. However, we'll be out there backburning and looking to consolidate those [containment] lines," she said.

Humanitarian packs a 'boost' for firefighters, evacuees

Charity group Operation Angel has handed out more than 10,000 relief packs to firefighters. ( ABC News: Karen Percy )

Charity group Operation Angel has travelled to the Tallangatta relief centre to hand out humanitarian packs to firefighters.

Organiser Jacqueline Pascarl said the firefighters were often mobilised at short notice.

"They haven't got toothbrushes, deodorant, ladies don't have sanitary items, hair ties. So this is a boost. They're all really happy to receive them," she said.

The charity has assembled more than 10,000 packs in ziplock bags, each containing a personal message from a child expressing their gratitude for the work being done by firefighters.

"It's been extraordinary. We've had hundreds of people every day turning up at our centre to donate or volunteer, car-loads full," Ms Pascarl said.

The packs also include donated cutlery.

"We also have people bringing their metal cutlery to us from their chic dining rooms saying we have a dinner party once a year if we're lucky," Ms Pascarl said.