Tourists have woken from a beach holiday in Victoria to scenes out of a nightmare as a devastating bushfire turned the skies black on the final day of 2019.
Visibility dropped to 50 meters in the beachside town of Mallacoota this morning as embers rained down from the sky caused by an approaching bushfire.
All that could be heard was the roar of the fire and the shrill siren of emergency alarms warning residents and tourists alike about the approaching danger.
Pictured: visibility dropped to less than 50 metres in Mallacoota on Tuesday morning as the sky turned charcoal black from an approaching bushfire
Scared locals described the skies going so dark they lost sight of the firefighters positioned to protect the thousands trapped by the approaching fire.
‘It’s not pleasant, it’s pitch dark here and the emergency vehicles have disappeared from sight,’ resident and community radio presenter Francesca Winterson told ABC Gippsland.
One resident wrote on Twitter: ‘The darkness in Mallacoota is utterly surreal. Not far off pitch black when this should be a beautiful sunny morning.’
The skies turned black in East Gipplsand on Tuesday morning as bushfires approached the Victorian town of Mallacoota
(Pictured) Residents in Mallacoota camped out beside the beach as a raging bushfire closes in on Tuesday
As colour drained from the surrounding environment the heat became insufferable – with temperatures jumping to 49 degrees at about 8am.
While the darkness grew the town lost power, with about 20,000 homes losing electricity this morning, according to the Guardian.
Mobile and landline phones also dropped out for many parts of East Gippsland.
But conditions improved slightly as the morning lapsed, with skies shifting to red and temperatures dropping back to 24C by 9am.
Fire authorities had not issued an evacuation order for the town because of fires burning in the west and to the north-east, in South East New South Wales.
Thousands of people who were warned to leave are now trapped on a beach and being told to go into the water as the fire closes in.
Nervous people who took to social media as they stood on the town’s pier in life jackets said they were waiting for a signal that meant they should ‘get down to the water and get underwater’. Pictured: Residents on the wharf at about 10.30am
Authorities believe more than 4000 people were stuck when the fire approached at about 8.30am this morning.
Nervous tourists took to social media as they stood on the town’s pier in life jackets said they were waiting for a signal that meant they should ‘get down to the water and get underwater’.
Emergency sirens have been sounding at the town, and the fire threatening the town has burnt more than 72,000 hectares.
‘We are very concerned about communities that have become isolated and to get an appreciation about other losses there could be we’ll be putting helicopters up doing reconnaissance flights,’ Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said.
Fires rapidly grew on Monday night due to winds and lightning strikes, ripping through more than 200,000 hectares in Victoria’s East Gippsland
Firetrucks roll into Mallacoota, as residents and holidaymakers are trapped at the beach
Pictured: The sky turned a deep shade of red in Mallacoota about 7.30am on Tuesday. Residents woke to pitch-black conditions a the fire approached
Terrified people trapped on the beach said they were standing on the pier with lifejackets waiting for the signal to jump in the water
The sky transformed into a deep red, with residents reporting ‘hot embers’ and a ‘roar’
‘We are very concerned about communities that have become isolated and to get an appreciation about other losses there could be we’ll be putting helicopters up doing reconnaissance flights,’ Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said
Michelle Roberts, who was seeking shelter at her cafe Croajingolong with a few others, told The Age: ‘I can describe it as probably hell on earth.’
Ms Roberts said she felt sorry for the people camping outside and she felt safer inside the concrete building.
‘If it gets really bad, I’ll open [the cafe] up and get people coming in,’ she said.
‘If worst comes to worst we’re just going to have to make a run for it.’
The Bureau of Meteorology said the temperature recorded at Mallacoota jumped to 49C at 8am before dropping to 24C at 9am
One resident found refuge on a houseboat in Mallacoota and took this picture
Mallacoota, in Victoria, was still pitch black at 8.4am on Tuesday
Residents and holidaymakers were told to leave other parts of the region by Monday morning, as authorities prepared to close the Princes Highway amid the deteriorating conditions.
Mr Crisp said it was too dangerous for people to leave after 9am on Monday as out-of-control fires took hold of East Gippsland.
‘If you’re not out by 9am, you’ve got to stay where you are, because there’s every chance the Princes Highway could be cut,’ he told Sunrise.
The Princes Highway between Bairnsdale and Genoa was then shut at 1pm on and remains closed.
Residents in the East Gippsland region were encouraged to flee on Monday morning as authorities prepared for deteriorating conditions
VicTraffic said: ‘The Princes Highway in East Gippsland remains closed between Bairnsdale and Genoa, due to the fires. Major road closures include the Bonang and Great Alpine roads, and Monaro Highway.’
On Sunday, local retailer Richard Darby warned residents and tourists choosing to ignore the warnings that it ‘could be suicide’.
‘It’s going to be a very bad day tomorrow, they are telling everyone to get out while they can,’ Mr Darby told The Herald Sun.
East Gippsland Mayor John White said bushland in the region was bone dry after three years of drought.
‘Hopefully people heed the messages. You can rebuild homes, sheds and fences but life is irreplaceable,’ he said.