The view from one of Australia's most scenic ocean drives was drastically altered when a destructive bushfire blazed through Victoria's surf coast on Christmas day.
Puffs of gray and black smoke hung in the distance down the Great Ocean Road, large swaths of which were closed following the fire that destroyed more than 100 homes. People in towns near the tourist attraction, which is also on the Australian National Heritage list, were ordered to evacuate around lunchtime Friday, local time. No deaths have been reported.
Overnight rain was welcomed by hundreds of firefighters battling the blaze, which has burned roughly 2,200 hectares. Despite the assist, there is more work to be done, with emergency warnings still in place as of Saturday morning in the towns of Wye River, Grey River, Kennett River and Separation Creek. The recent rain doesn't mean the worst is over, either. "We will be back into hot, windy weather in January without a doubt," Victoria's Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley said during a press conference Saturday, adding that there haven't been fires like this in the area for decades.
An unusually intense heat wave linked to global warming has been contributing to fires in the state of Victoria since earlier this month. The Christmas fire was intensified by strong winds.
Photos shared on social media show a stark contrast from the serene ocean below and a scorching scene in the distance.
Separation Creek. #vicfires #bushfires pic.twitter.com/CIEBNNp1K9— Tom Jacobs (@TomPJacobs) December 25, 2015
Worth Considering... is out! https://t.co/nuCEKAW208 Stories via @garyhaugen— David Groenenboom (@DaveGroenenboom) December 26, 2015
Dozens of homes lost in Victoria bushfire, hundreds of properties in danger https://t.co/K04f3X73aq #GreatOceanRoad pic.twitter.com/98af9Y8it7— SBS News (@SBSNews) December 25, 2015
#LorneKeith Pakenham is a photographer & vol for the CFA. This is some of his excellent photography #vicFires pic.twitter.com/kIXTlRQmJF— Incident Alert-VicSA (@incident_alert) December 25, 2015
Incredible #VicFires images as Oz tourist #GreatOceanRoad towns ravaged by bushfire #Lorne https://t.co/poqK9cLT5j pic.twitter.com/0Cr5eFnWya— Andrew Hough (@andrew_hough) December 25, 2015
Fire update: "No reports of injury or loss of life but several houses have been destroyed." https://t.co/c3spvCNi1V pic.twitter.com/8DIhErZsK6— Herald Sun (@theheraldsun) December 25, 2015
Lorne, Christmas Day, 2015. Thoughts are with you all. #auspol pic.twitter.com/enH4Xvcm09— John Setka (@CFMEUJohnSetka) December 25, 2015
A photo posted by Katie (@cutie7) on Dec 25, 2015 at 12:14am PST
This is looking at #LORNE now. Low cloud and smokey. Red glow that was there last night has gone. #GreatOceanRoad pic.twitter.com/SFKGAOIrPD— Rebecca Maddern (@RebeccaMaddern7) December 25, 2015
UPDATED Dec. 26, 2015 6:30 p.m. PT to increase number of razed homes.