Thousands Flee as Wildfire Hits Australian Town, Turns Skies Red

Wildfires racing towards an Australian seaside town caused the skies to turn red and left thousands of residents and tourists trapped on the town's boat ramp, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports. The danger started on Sunday, when a fire near the Wingan River spread quickly towards the seaside town of Mallacoota. The fire ended up on Mallacoota's west and northwest, which reportedly caused skies to turn pitch black, then red. “It's starting to get embers coming out of the sky, the wind is coming directly at us from the west," resident Mark Tregellas told ABC. According to The New Zealand Herald, Victoria's Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said there was no evacuation order in place for Mallacoota, leaving about 4,000 people trapped near the water. Crisp said the fire's location made it unsafe for people to leave. This comes as 16 fires are reportedly burning at an emergency level across Australia. According to The Guardian, the entire East Gippsland region is under an emergency alert.