INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Sky's special correspondent Alex Crawford has spoken to survivors and firefighters in southern New South Wales.Cooler weather has helped
firefighters who are trying to contain raging bushfires in south east Australia - but there are more than 150 still burning in New South
Wales (NSW) alone.Dozens of the fires in NSW have been described as "uncontained".Image:Many firefighters are volunteersThe air around
Moruya, in southern NSW, was thick with smoke as more than a dozen new fires broke out in spite of the faint rain drizzle - the first in
weeks.More than a dozen communities around the Batemans Bay area on the southeast coast have been left devastated after ferocious fires
ripped through their homes over the past twelve hours.Power lines have been burned down and hundreds of thousands more hectares of land left
horribly charred.Around Malua Bay, dozens of homes have been destroyed, with residents telling Sky News they had about 10 minutes to run for
their lives."The fire came so quickly," one said."We had very little time to do anything
We just had to leave."Image:Kevin Colebrook survived the fire by pouring buckets of water over himselfImage:A house crippled by the fires in
New South WalesKevin Colebrook, whose house is inside the forest, was still spraying hot patches of smouldering tree roots and branches the
following morning.He survived by pouring buckets of water from his water tank over himself.His anger against Australia's leader is palpable
He did not hold back when I asked him what Prime Minister Scott Morrison should do."He should p*** off out of the country because he don't
deserve to live in Australia any more
Because he's a d***wit," he said."Everyone in Australia has been let down by them b*******
And that's all they are - p*****."They're only lining their own pockets
They don't care about us."Image:Volunteer firefighter Dave Moreta said crews are hardly getting a breakHis feelings are replicated by many
we spoke to, still emotional and raw about the overnight brush with death and destruction, including some firefighters.Volunteer firefighter
Dave Moreta told us: "I wasn't too happy the prime minister was taking a holiday, but this is what we volunteered to do and this is what we
will do."All the crews are hurting
They are taking triple calls and working really hard and even in our downtime we don't have time to rest because we have to sort out our
equipment and get ready for the next onslaught."The fierce fires have prompted a massive worldwide outpouring of financial help.Livestock
killed trying to escape bushfiresAustralian comedian Celeste Barber, who has relatives trapped in Eden in NSW, used her enormous social
media platform to help raise more than AUS$20m (£10.6m) for the firefighters in just 48 hours.The donations are still pouring in.It is in
stark contrast to the country's leader who held out for weeks against pressure to offer the volunteers compensation, until relenting shortly
after Christmas.And the crisis is still far from over.
