MONTREAL -- As wildfires in southeast Australia continue to burn, one Montreal family is relieved to be out of danger.
Meaghan Wegg, her husband and two children were camping near the town of Mallacoota when fire quickly swept in. Campers sought safety on the beach.
"We were woken up at around one in the morning to a glare in the sky – a fire the size of a tornado," she said.
They then took shelter in the town's movie theatre, spending six frightening days there.
"They were cooling the cinema with water. Ash was falling from the vents," she said.
The family was finally airlifted to safety.
It's an unprecedented crisis for Australia, with fires burning in an area larger than the size of Nova Scotia and PEI combined.
Wildfires have claimed at least 26 lives so far and authorities fear millions of animals have also been killed.
As the fires rage on, Wegg said she's still having nightmares.
"My body aches so much from being in survival mode, sleeping on floors, holding the kids and running a lot," she said.
