Thousands flee Australia village inferno
Thousands of Australians have sheltered on a beach after a forest firestorm descended upon a coastal village burning as many as 20 houses.
About 7,000 people, many of them holidaymakers, ran for their lives when the inferno raced into Sussex Inlet, 120 miles south of Sydney.
More than 100 blazes, dubbed the "black Christmas fires" have brought havoc to Australia's most populous state for 11 days.
They have blackened hundreds of thousands of acres of bush and farmland.
No lives have been lost, but more than 160 houses have been destroyed north, west and south of Sydney.
Fires have also been burning in scrubland in its northern suburbs, threatening hundreds more homes.
About 20,000 firefighters are battling flames that, combined, stretch for more than 1,200 miles across tinder-dry New South Wales state.
Helicopters dumped water on fires. In some places, fire crews pumped water from garden swimming pools, or even used buckets.
