Great Ocean Road bushfire in Australia claims 100 homes

Hundreds of firefighters have been battling the Christmas Day blaze along the famous Great Ocean Road in Victoria's south-west, popular with holidaymakers

A devastating wildfire in Australia left an “apocalyptic” trail of destruction and brought a sudden end to the Christmas plans for thousands of holidaymakers along the famous Great Ocean Road, a popular tourist and surf strip.

The 2,200-hectare blaze wiped out nearly a third of all homes in the seaside hamlets of Wye River and Separation Creek and is expected to continue to burn across the dense southern bushland in the state of Victoria for weeks or months.

Thousands of residents and tourists were forced to evacuate the area as thick columns of smoke filled with embers and debris blanketed towns along the well-known narrow road that hugs the rugged coastline south-west of Melbourne

Lesley and Tony Maly, who lost their home in Wye River, said they were told to evacuate shortly after they put a turkey in the oven for Christmas lunch and desperately grabbed the wedding rings, mobile phones and some clothing.

“It was like the apocalypse," Mr Maly told The Age.

"It was something I can't describe. It was like the world had come to an end. The colour of the sun itself was a bright orange. The first house that went up was right next to mine. Thirty minutes, it was gone ... then the other house next to mine lit up, and I knew mine was gone."

In Wye River, about 98 homes were lost – about a third of the town – and another 18 houses were lost at Separation Creek.

Tom Jacobs, whose parents live in the small coastal town of Separation Creek, had been preparing to eat lunch with the family on Christmas Day when the fire descended and the skies went dark and they found themselves fleeing for their lives.

“We were about to have lunch and then we saw smoke behind the property,” he told The Herald Sun. “The smoke kept on coming up bigger and bigger and then it turned into a war zone with four choppers bombing directly overheard. It had all been perfectly fine and then it went dark and it was like volcano skies.”

Mr Jacobs said his family lost a goat, several sheep and a shed but the house was intact.

The blaze, caused by a lightning strike and fuelled by hot temperatures and strong winds, was one of the worst in the state since the tragic Black Saturday fires in 2009 which killed 173 people and destroyed 2,000 homes.

Daniel Andrews, the state’s premier, said the fire in recent days had been intense and volatile and was “burning right to the water’s edge”.

“It will be a very difficult few days, though, indeed many weeks, for those who have lost their homes,” he said, adding that residents in the area had “not had a very good Christmas at all”.

“[There are] people who are out of their homes, out of their areas and doing it tough at the moment,” he said.

Firefighters said rain and cooler temperatures had eased conditions but warned that spot fires posed a continuing risk. Several firefighters were injured but there were no fatalities.

“It’s only through people making smart choices… the work of our emergency services fighting the fire, and all of our other partners that we have had [no] loss of life,” said Mr Andrews.