Thousands of people were forced to take shelter on a beach in the Victorian coastal town of Mallacoota after Australia's most devastating wildfire season on record worsened on New Year's Eve.
Authorities believe some 4,000 are stuck in the holiday town in the East Gippsland district, while two more people have been confirmed dead, and five others missing are also feared dead.
Police said a father and son died in the early hours of Tuesday defending their home in Cobargo, near the coast in the state of New South Wales (NSW) - 280 miles south of Sydney.
The area was hit in the middle of the night by one unruly fire creating apocalyptic conditions for residents and tourists.
Defence personnel are assisting firefighters and volunteers in tacking some of the worst blazes, with eight fires burning at emergency level across NSW, with a similar number ongoing in Victoria, and two more in the island state of Tasmania.
Emergency services officials said it was possible towns in the Gippsland area could be evacuated by sea as the fires, fanned by strong winds, continued.
People in Mallacoota shared footage of the ruinous fires on social media, which shows Australia's roaring red sky turning day into night.
One Twitter user said: "Australia is burning" while another posted: "Apocalyptic scenes".
More than half a million acres of forest have been burnt out, with intense heat and smoke from fires creating localised storms.
"Mallacoota is currently under attack," Victoria's state emergency commissioner Andrew Crisp said on Tuesday.
"It is pitch-black, it is quite scary... the community right now is under threat but we will hold our line and they will be saved and protected."
The death toll from more than three months of wildfires in multiple states now stands at 12.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday said requests had been made for 70 firefighters from the United States and Canada to be flown in to help local crews.
Major roads were closed near the south coast of NSW including the country's main national carriageway, the Pacific Highway.
Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, posted a video expressing sympathy over the death on Monday of volunteer firefighter Samuel McPaul, 28, who died when what was described as "a fire tornado" flipped his truck off the ground while he attended a blaze near Albury, in southern NSW.
"As 2019 draws to a close, the devastating impact of these terrible bushfires continues," Mr Morrison said.
Extreme temperatures and high fire danger, with western Sydney hitting 45 degrees on Tuesday, have resulted in several planned firework displays being cancelled, including in the national capital Canberra.
Sydney's iconic harbour-side fireworks are still to go ahead, even after calls for it to be cancelled, but with signs displayed of how people can donate money to help those affected by fires.
