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You’ve Never Seen Pictures Like This: Family Escapes Raging ‘Tornadoes of Fire’ in Australia by Clinging to Dock

Jan. 9, 2013 5:25pm Erica Ritz

Tim and Tammy Holmes were watching their five grandchildren– spending some time at their beach home in the Tasmanian town of Dunalley– when the wildfires that had been terrorizing the area suddenly made dramatic moves in their direction.

“We saw tornadoes of fire just coming across towards us, and the next thing we knew everything was on fire, everywhere, all around us,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

NBC continues:

Holmes said he sent his wife Tammy and their five grandchildren — who are aged between almost 2 and 11 — to the jetty to seek refuge from the flames, which destroyed three homes owned by the family. “There was no other escape,” he added.

Holmes sent a text message to his daughter, Bonnie Walker, showing her children in the water.

“It’s still quite an upsetting image,” Walker told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. “It’s of all of my five children underneath the jetty, huddled up to neck deep sea water, which is cold. I knew that that would be a challenge to keep three non-swimmers above water and with only my mom, dad and our eldest daughter.”

At first the family merely sat on the dock as the air turned orange and the fires swirled all around them:

Holmes Family Escapes Tornadoes of Fire in Tasmania by Clinging to Dock, Jetty for Hours | Australia

In this Jan. 4, 2013, photo provided by the Holmes family the Walker siblings six-year-old Caleb, left, four-year-old Esther, second from left, eleven-year-old Matilda, holding two-year-old Charlotte, second from right, and nine-year-old Liam, right, prepare to enter the water to take refuge with their grandparents under a jetty as a wildfire rages nearby in the Tasmanian town of Dunalley, east of the state capital of Hobart, Australia. (Photo: AP)

In this Jan. 4, 2013, photo provided by the Holmes family, the Walker siblings six-year-old Caleb, left, four-year-old Esther, second from left, nine-year-old Liam, and eleven-year-old Matilda, right, holding two-year-old Charlotte, prepare to enter the water to take refuge with their grandparents under a jetty as a wildfire rages nearby in the Tasmanian town of Dunalley, east of the state capital of Hobart, Australia. (Photo: AP)

But after the dock caught on fire:

In this Jan. 4, 2013, photo provided by the Holmes family, a building burns near a jetty where Tim and Tammy Holmes attempt to shelter their five grandchildren as a wildfire rages nearby in the Tasmanian town of Dunalley, east of the state capital of Hobart, Australia. (AP)

The grandparents were forced to get in the water with the five children:

In this Jan. 4, 2013, photo provided by the Holmes family, Tammy Holmes, second from left, and her grandchildren, two-year-old Charlotte Walker, left, four-year-old Esther Walker, third from left, nine-year-old Liam Walker, eleven-year-old Matilda, second from right, and six-year-old Caleb Walker, right, take refuge under a jetty as a wildfire rages near-by in the Tasmanian town of Dunalley, east of the state capital of Hobart, Australia. (Photo: AP)

In this Jan. 4, 2013, photo provided by the Holmes family, Tammy Holmes and her grandchildren take refuge under a jetty as a wildfire rages nearby in the Tasmanian town of Dunalley, east of the state capital of Hobart, Australia. (Photo: AP)

“The difficulty was there was so much smoke and embers…there was probably 200 millimeters to 300 millimeters (8 to 12 inches) of air above the water,” Holmes told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Monday.

He continued: “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.”

After roughly three hours, Holmes located a dinghy and used it to ferry the family to safety.

“I spent a lot of time with good friends and prayed like I never prayed before, and I think those prayers have been answered,” the children’s mother said.

NBC has all the stunning pictures and video, including an interview with the family after the made it out safely:

(H/T: Gawker)

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Comments (22)

kadster01
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 11:56am
So glad they made it through. It had to be terrifying.

On another note, the yellow-orange hue really creates an odd effect in the photos. They look like pictures from the 50′s or something. A couple look almost like paintings.

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00gabooga
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 7:57am
Who’s cooler than that kid in the shades!? She’s my new hero!!

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Onodacops
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 7:49am
Crazy story. I like the kid chilling with the shades on, he/she has the “I got this” expression going on quite well.

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NoMoMrNiceGuy
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 7:36am
Can you say singularity – As Glenn has acurately described here is an example. Fire burns – People Flee and the parents who are not even there are seeing it in real time. Crazy !

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COFemale
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 11:23pm
Truly amazing story. I am so glad all survived. It had to be frightening to see flames like that all around you and that type of smoke is thick and makes it hard to breathe.

Even when Waldo Canyon Fire was raging they told us to stay indoors and I was 25-30 miles away and had smoke move over my home. It smelled like I was smelling a fireplace fire only thicker and potent.

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Marsh626
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 10:04pm
Thanks for linking to Gawker and Huffington Post constantly… Way to go Blaze…

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- CathyvanDyke
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 11:05pm
  Australian wildfires: clinging to life, a family defies wall of flame
  Luke Harding
  The Guardian, Wednesday 9 January 2013 18.55 GMT
  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/09/australian-wildfires-family-defining-photograph
  
  REMINDER:
  Gawker Publishes Complete 446-Page List of ‘All the A**holes Who Own Guns in New York City’
  Posted on January 8, 2013 at 3:57pm by Jason Howerton
  http://www.theblaze.com/stories/gawker-publishes-complete-446-page-list-of-all-the-aholes-who-own-guns-in-new-york-city/
  
  Report this comment
vtxphantom
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:57pm
When the kids grow up and have their get togethers, they will all have stories to relate to their brothers and sisters about that time they survived the wild fires.

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abeliever2010
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 8:59pm
Executive Order number (we lost count)
All fires are hereby forbidden.

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- GENEPAGLIARI
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:22pm
  All who possess said fire legally or otherwise will hereby refrain from any use of fire. Any fire held by citizens will be turned in to the fire receiving centers. Whoever ignores this order will be incarcerated as an inmate in possession of incendiaries. All fire, legal or otherwise will be extinguished. Any ability to create fire will be destroyed. All methods of fire-starting will be forgotten and purged from any literature.
  
  Report this comment
- right-wing-waco
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:45pm
  Bravo, good call.
  
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DougHuffman
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 5:53pm
Thank goodness the Firenado video copyright is being tightly held and protected. Even Al Gorzeera couldn’t get it.

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thegodfather
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 5:53pm
Don’t worry about effect on the atmosphere and global warming from these fires. San Francisco banned lighting fires at Christmas time, a few weeks ago, so that should more than make up for this.

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The-Monk
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 5:32pm
Question;

In a situation like that… who takes the time, or has the frame of mind, to start taking photos?

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- Cavallo
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 5:42pm
  Someone who probably needs to seek help with some kind of phone addiction. Probably has joint damage in his/her thumbs. Probably texts to people they are sitting right next to, gets overly emotional about new apps or lack of access to them. Probably gets into near fist fights with those that choose the competing brand of phone.
  
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- antrancher
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 5:45pm
  He did it for the kids mother to show her they were safe.
  
  Report this comment
- The-Monk
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 6:00pm
  @antrancher,
  
  I think a voice saying, “Yes, we’re in the water and safe” would be more reassuring than seeing “those” pictures….. : (
  
  Report this comment
- CatB
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 6:05pm
  Watched the video .. the dog made it too.
  
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- TeslanEdison
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 8:22pm
  The reason being is that the mom was concerned and likely texting frantically, the photos were taken to ease the fears of the mother, read the whole article before being critical. The pictures are of the Grandparents who were watching the children at the time.
  
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- Advena
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 4:40pm
  Who? A grandfather who knows that the children’s mother will be freaking out of her mind as she hears that the bushfires are raging through the area where her precious children are staying. Read the story.
  
  Report this comment
Cavallo
Posted on January 9, 2013 at 5:32pm
Ban Fire.

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- GENEPAGLIARI
  Posted on January 9, 2013 at 9:15pm
  And take fire from those who legally possess any and all fire.
  
  Report this comment

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