Vic firies saved homes, lost their own

Firefighters working through the night to save homes in Wye River watched their own houses burn down as the Christmas Day bushfire swirled out of control.

Tony Maley was protecting a caravan park near the beach and saw his house was still standing while others around it had gone. He stopped to grab some food at 9pm.

"(I) went back to go and look after the assets again, and I saw my house on fire and I watched it burn down," Mr Maley told Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Tuesday.

Mr Maley didn't sleep that night as he kept battling the blaze long after his house was already gone.

"We've lost our cat. Hopefully he's somewhere, that's all that matters really that we find him," he said.

"We've got the dog, so that's all good."

CFA firefighter Elliot Walton has lived in Wye River since he was 14 and also lost his home in the fires.

He told Mr Turnbull he would "definitely" rebuild.

"It's a pretty bad place for fires, but we all love it, so there's no way we won't rebuild," he said.

Mr Turnbull told him the federal and state governments had his back.

"You know there's support from us and from Victoria, so we'll be there to help you with that," he said.

The prime minister said it was only natural to focus on the tragedy of loss in bushfires.

"But there's a real triumph in the way this community has managed this natural disaster, which has a force and power beyond human control," he said.