This Canadian family's Australian vacation was derailed when fires broke out. They spent six days taking shelter in a movie theatre before they were rescued
As refugees from devastating bushfires crowded into a cinema in the Australian town of Mallacoota, "Frozen" and "Happy Feet" were playing to keep the kids calm.
Wegg is one of the 4,000 people who fled to beaches as bushfires raged in Mallacoota, a family camping spot on the eastern edge of the state of Victoria. The family packed quickly and drove to another beach. They set up a tent and mattress on the sand, and waited. The wind started picking up around 4 a.m., and it became a sandstorm on the beach, Wegg said. "We quickly tried to pack things up but had to leave lots ... ended up grabbing the kids and ... running through water to get to another shelter point, a campsite," she said."After the ... wind passed we had a few more hours of waiting before they asked us to go outside with a mask to cool down as we were overheating," Wegg said.
The family drove through bush fires to get to the airport and waited. A helicopter circled for 40 minutes, but failed to land and went back to refuel before trying -- and failing -- again, Wegg said.
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