Moment terrified family were forced to take refuge in the water as Australian wildfire...

Daily Mail (UK) ^ | 9th January 2013 | Simon Tomlinson

[naturalman1975]

With their home destroyed and wildfires raging around them, it was their only hope.

Tammy and Tim Holmes led their five grandchildren Charlotte, two, Esther, four, Caleb, six, Liam, nine, and Matilda, 11, into the sea.

Even there, their terror was not over as flames licked the wooden jetty they clung to and they struggled to breathe in the smoke-filled air.

[naturalman1975]

The photographs were taken by the children's grandfather. He took them to prove to his daughter that her children were alive and were in the safest place he could find for them.

The man is a genuine hero. In a truly dire situation, he got his grandchildren to the most survivable location he could find. He fought the fires at that location to keep them safe, and when it was possible, he risked his life to return to shore to locate a boat to take them to safety.

His wife - the children's grandmother - kept them as safe as she could and as calm as possible through over two hours of hellish conditions.

Matilda, aged 11, should also be commended, as she took responsibility for the safety of her younger brother Caleb.

[Mister Da]

Hey folks, you think you had a bad day?

Check out these pics to see what a bad day looks like!

[SandRat]

At leat they didn’t have contend with a hungry Salty.

[naturalman1975]

Way too far south for that, fortunately.

[bgill]

Australia had its hottest day on record with a nationwide average of 40.33 Celsius

That's a cool day compared to Texas the last couple summers. They were lucky to have a river nearby.

[naturalman1975]

The 40.33C was the average across the entire continent which is nearly the size of the 48 contiguous United States - not a point temperature in one state. In parts of Australia, the measured temperature on that day was over 50 degrees Celsius. It reached over 52C in some isolated areas where there's no direct measurement, only satellite measurements.

Imagine it being at least 40 in Texas. And in Colorado. And in New York. And in Washington State. And in California. And in Florida. Basically everywhere in the entire country on one day. That's what was unusual about that day. That's the average - some places were over ten degrees hotter. A few were up to ten degrees cooler.

It was 44 degrees where I was, and I was out fighting bushfires in it, and I'm grateful it wasn't the 47 degree day we had in 2009.

The temperatures really were insane the other day. We're used to 40+ degree days affecting part of the country - but not absolutely everywhere at once.