Eric Leister – January 2, 2020
Thousands of residents and vacationers in Australia were forced to quickly take refuge on a beach in Mallacoota, Victoria, on Tuesday as a large fire threatened the seaside town located about 500 km (310 miles) east of Melbourne.
Fire crews flanked the beach as the flames grew closer, and some people were able to flee the beach using local boats. Others hunkered down on their boats away from land, with little choice but to wait out the disastrous flames until additional help arrived.
Some of that help arrived on Wednesday, when the Australian Defense Force was mobilized to rescue those still stranded on the beach, according to the Herald News. The country’s military sent naval ships and aircraft to the area to supply water, food and fuel to towns that have been cut off by the fires, the Associated Press reported.
From the more than 200 fires that have continued to burn out of the control across New South Wales and Victoria, at least 17 people have died, more than 175 homes have been destroyed and around 4,000 people were forced from the coastal town of Mallacoota were forced to flee to the beach shore when the blazes cornered their town.