Photo: SuppliedA former Southland woman trapped by bushfires in a coastal Australian town says she and her family are ready to retreat to the beach if the situation gets worse. Meanwhile, her family in Dunedin are anxiously following events from afar, saying the tense situation had left them "a bit tearful". An unexpected irony of the fire season is that her husband Matt Sharpe works for Fire Rescue Australia. They had checked on the fire situation before leaving Melbourne and matters were safe at that stage—"unfortunately things changed later". Amanda’s stepfather, Wayne Parsons, said he and Amanda’s mother, Mary Elder, both of Dunedin, had been feeling nervous, and he had been feeling "a bit tearful" because of the tense situation with the fires.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 31, 2019 00:00 UTC