Bushfires  are still burning out of control  in southeast Tasmania,as very high temperatures  and strong winds persist. The wall of fire is 15 kilometres across. Many people are now coming  grips with the destruction causes by the flames that have already raged through.

The island state at the south of Australia experienced wildfires through tens of thousands of hectares and the fire has so far  destroyed more than 100 homes.

Acting Tasmanian Police Commissioner Scott Tilyard likewise said Monday that authorities haven't found any indication anyone died in the fires.But the search continues house to house.

But he said they are still continuing to sift through about 500 inquiries -- some ofwhom may be for the same person or be for people who weren't even in the fire zones -- about potentially missing people. Then there's the matter of double-checking on the ground, including combing through scorched buildings, to ensure everyone survived.

"Until we've had the opportunity to do all the screening that we need to do, ... we can't say for certain that there hasn't been a human life or more than one human life lost as a result of these fires," Tilyard said.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard is in Tasmania today to see for herself the destruction caused and the help that will be needed.And she has warmed Australians to have a fire plan.

The rest of Australia is still dealing with extreme temperatures and bush fires. Fires rage in five states with most in the most heavily populated state, New South Wales which is expecting extreme fire risk tomorrow as temperatures are likely to reach 43 degrees Celsius

A record heatwave, which began in western Australia on 27 December and lasted eight days, was the fiercest in more than 80 years in that state and has spread east across the nation, making it the widest-ranging heatwave in more than a decade, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

In  2009, when the Black Saturday wildfires in Victoria state killed 173 people and caused $4.4bn-worth of damage.