POLICE have released the name of a Victorian firefighter found dead near Taranna yesterday.
Peter Ronald Cramer, 61, from Tyers in Victoria's Gippsland region, was found after he failed to make a scheduled call-in about 4pm.
He was part of a group of more than 70 Victorian firefighters sent to help the Tasmania Fire Service fight the Tasman Peninsula blaze.
Mr Cramer was found 3km from the active fire edge. He had been on foot preparing for backburning east of Taranna at Waterfall Bluff.
It is understood he died of natural causes.
Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu said the state's sympathy and condolences were with those affected by the death of the firefighter.
"Our hearts go out to him, his family, his friends and his colleagues, and I'm sure that will be the case right across Victoria," Mr Baillieu told reporters in Melbourne today.
"It's important that Victorians understand that when it comes to firefighting, we all reach out to support each other.
"Tasmania supported Victorians through the (February 2009) Black Saturday crisis -- we have been doing likewise."
Premier Lara Giddings said she was deeply saddened that a Victorian man had died while working on the Tasmanian bushfires.
"I express my deepest condolences to this brave Victorian's loved ones," Ms Giddings said yesterday.
TFS Chief Officer Mike Brown said the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment firefighter was working to identify potential containment lines on the southern edge of the Forcett fire.
He was undertaking an important task in reducing the risk of fires impacting communities on the Tasman Peninsula, Mr Brown said.
"The thoughts of all Tasmanians and Fire Services around Australia are with this person's family and friends at this tragic time."
A report on Mr Cramer's death is being prepared for the Coroner.
The firefighter's death comes as hundreds of Tasman Peninsula residents return to their homes after the catastrophic bushfires.
Earlier yesterday the region's mayor, Kerry Vincent, said he had spoken to hundreds of people in recent days from displaced residents to firefighters and all were astounded by what a miracle it was that despite the ferocity of the fire not one resident or holidaymaker was killed.
The Sorell mayor said even those who lost homes and businesses were thankful the fire wasn't worse.
"I've talked to a lot of fire crews the last two to three days since the fire calmed down and they are staggered that with the intensity of the fire, and the speed it took over, that there weren't people killed they just can't believe it," Cr Vincent said, after police searched 1040 properties including 200 homes and businesses severely damaged or destroyed and no human remains were found.
"You just don't hear of a bushfire this intense, with this amount of houses lost, without someone being killed ... it's quite remarkable."
Mr Brown credits a "new approach" to firefighting including changes to the way firefighters prepare for and attack fires, along with greater use of social media with preventing loss of life.
He said the ferocity of the fire was comparable to that of other catastrophic bushfires, in Tasmania in 1967 and Victoria in 2009, in which many lives were lost. But changes made as a result of the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission had undoubtedly saved lives.
He said fire crews were now dedicating less time to actually fighting bushfires and more time to getting people to safety. He said better use of telephone warning systems and social media updates also ensured people stayed safe.
"We've changed the way we're responding we're not concentrating on putting out the fire, because we know we can't, but we instead focus on protecting vulnerable people," Mr Brown said.
The fact the fire occurred in a coastal region helped, as many people fled to beaches to escape the blaze.
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