Thousands told to jump into the ocean as Australia's raging fires approached

The sun didn't rise on New Year's Eve. The summer morning in a small beach town on the east coast of Australia looked like a winter's night. 

That black sky soon gave way to a blazing, eerie orange as the flames approached. At least 4,000 people were told to jump into the ocean if the worse came to pass. Gas cylinders could be heard popping like fireworks as they exploded. 

The town of Mallacoota looked apocalyptic on Tuesday local time as it became the latest victim of Australia's out-of-control bushfires.

It was too late to evacuate. 

"We are one road in, one road out. That road's been blocked for hours and hours and hours," Francesca Winterson from Mallacoota Community Radio told News Breakfast, a national TV broadcast.  Read more...

More about Australia, Bushfires, Science, and Climate Environment

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