Image of the Day January 9
Stunning Photos Of Australian Family As They Barely Escape Raging Wildfires

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If you've only ever seen a wildfire from the air on television, these pictures will certainly give you a sense of how terrifying a wildfire is and how quickly it can move.

This is a family who barely escaped their burning home in Australia, near the town of Dunalley in Tasmania.

Tim Holmes, his wife Tammy and their five grandchildren, aged 2 to 11, had to jump in the water at the edge of the property to get away from the flames.

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"We saw tornadoes of fire just coming towards us," Holmes told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "And the next thing we knew, everything was on fire, everywhere all around us."

"There was no other escape ... The difficulty was there was so much smoke and embers, and there was probably 200 millimetres to 300 millimetres of air above the water," he said.

"So we were all just heads; water up to our chins just trying to breathe because it was just -- the atmosphere was so incredibly toxic."

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The family had to stay in the water for several hours, as homes around them burned to the ground. And the water was actually very cold, despite the hot temperatures.

Holmes (who took the photos) and his wife were taking care of the kids, while their parents were away. They live next door to each other.

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The children's mother Bonnie Walker told the ABC "We just waited by the phone and received a message at 3:30 to say that mum and dad had evacuated, that they were surrounded by fire, and could we pray."

"So I braced myself to lose my children and my parents."

Once the flames died down, Holmes got a small boat off the shore, got everyone into it, and got them to safety.

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Everything they own is gone, but the kids' father David Walker says they're just happy everyone is okay.

"All the things that we've lost, yeah, there's some precious memories there. But they can be replaced, material things," he told the ABC. "But my wife and children, not so easily replaced. Yeah, I just feel blessed that my family's all together."

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