A firenado threatened properties in Australia as firefighters tackle more than 100 bushfires on the east coast of the country.
A helicopter involved in the rescue effort by dropping water over the blaze crash landed in Girvan, close to Newcastle.
Incredible aerial footage shows the firenado as the flames get whipped up by the powerful winds.
Queensland state authorities issued an emergency warning around Bundamba, when a grass fire, sparked by a building blaze, rapidly advanced across dry grassland.
Wildfires have killed at least four people and destroyed more than 680 homes across eastern Australia, according to authorities.
Around 2,000 firefighters have been deployed to fight 96 fires throughout New South Wales, whose landscape has been parched by three years of drought.
Only about half of the fires are being contained.
The most recent blaze north of Sydney, has burnt across 830,000 acres, and has caused the cancellation of many outdoor weekend activities, as smoke and ash have lingered over the city.
While common in Australia during the hot summer, which begins in December, bushfires have begun much earlier this season, blamed on soaring temperatures, dry winds and suspected arson.
Animals can be seen lying on the ground confused and seemingly terrified by the raging flames that surround them.
In one photo a baby kangaroo appears alone and lost, its mouth surrounded by soot.
While wildfires and bushfires are a part of Australia’s natural ecosystem, the current blazes are unprecedented in terms of their intensity.
An estimated 2.5 million acres of farmland and bushland have been destroyed in total.
