ABLAZE UNDER A BLOOD RED SKY
Terror in Australia as choking fires force thousands on to beaches
THOUSANDS of holidaymakers and locals fled to beaches in fire-ravaged south-eastern Australia yesterday as blazes ripped through popular tourist areas leaving no escape by land.
Army helicopters were preparing to fly through blood-red skies that resembled something from another planet in a bid to rescue those who had ignored earlier evacuation warnings.
Some 4,000 were trapped on the shore of the town of Mallacoota and many others sought refuge on beaches in fire- encircled seaside towns including Batemans Bay up and down the east coast.
But as terrified families cowered on the coast, in Sydney, 400 miles from Mallacoota, a million people crammed in to the harbour area to watch the New Year fireworks, which were labelled a ‘slap in the face’ by critics.
Some in Mallacoota who had boats took to the sea, hoping for refuge from one the worst days yet in Australia’s months-long bushfire crisis. The Australian Defence Force sent Black Hawks and Chinook helicopters, along with their own ships, to the east coast where the two worst-affected regions lie, but they needed the skies to clear to enable them to fly.
Dozens of properties are feared to have been destroyed since Monday and at least seven people were unaccounted for in New South Wales and Victoria as flames reached well-populated towns.
Dawn brought no light and the midday sun turned this small corner to a deep-red haze. People choked into their scarves and face masks and bushfires were so intense that they wiped out villages in minutes while turning parts of cars into molten metal.
Residents and holidaymakers in Mallacoota, in Victoria, were awoken from their beds at 5am and told by fire officers and police to flee to the beach because if they didn’t they would be burned alive.
They went in their thousands, and when they got there they were encouraged to wade into the sea if the heat from the approaching bushfire became too much to bear.
Those who tried to drive away found roads blocked and turned back to huddle on the beach. Officials had for days been warning tens of thousands of tourists enjoying Australia’s summer holidays to leave the area but for thousands it was now too late to leave.
Andrew Crisp, Victoria’s emergency management commissioner, said: ‘We’ve got three strike teams in Mallacoota that will be looking after 4,000 people down on the beach there. We’re naturally very concerned about communities that have become isolated.’ By 8am, the temperature in Mallacoota had reached 49C (120.2F). Amid the roar of the fast-moving wall of fire and the cracking of burning wood, barbecue gas bottles blew up, adding further intense heat.
While there were no casualties among those on the beach, officials confirmed that two men, believed to be a father and son, had been found dead in the burned out home they had tried to defend in the New South Wales town of Cobargo. Brenda Whiffen, who fled Cobargo, told the Australian Broadcasting Commission that as the fire approached at 1am ‘you could see the red glow, you could hear it roaring like the ocean’.
Four other people believed to be missing are all thought to be in areas close to Mallacoota.
The fires, the worst in Australian history, have been relentless, ripping through nearly 600,000 acres of bushland in the East Gippsland region east of Melbourne, and damaging nearly one million acres across the border in New South
Wales. However, despite the wildfires raging across the country, leaving at least 12 dead, in Sydney organisers decided to go ahead with the world-famous fireworks.
At midnight, as 2020 arrived, £3.5million worth of fireworks went up in smoke in a 12-minute extravaganza, lighting up the sky over Sydney Harbour.
But the joy was not shared elsewhere with one critic tweeting: ‘My parents are without power, their town is cut off, and the southerly is blowing another fire towards them. A fireworks show feels like a huge slap in the face.’
Another added: ‘Members of my family are spending tonight huddled together on a boat ramp waiting while bushfires bear down, and our PM is throwing a party.’
‘It was roaring like the ocean’