1 / 10A commuter wears a mask as smoke shrouds the Australian capital of Canberra, Australia. Australia deployed military ships and aircraft to help communities ravaged by apocalyptic wildfires that destroyed homes and sent thousands of residents and holidaymakers fleeing to the shoreline. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
2 / 10Thousands of tourists fled Australia's wildfire-ravaged eastern coast Thursday ahead of worsening conditions as the military started to evacuate people trapped on the shore further south. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
3 / 10HMAS Choules appears as a ghostly figure through smoke haze off the coast of Mallacoota. Authorities said 381 homes had been destroyed on the New South Wales south coast this week and at least eight people have died this week in the state and neighbouring Victoria, Australia's two most-populous states, where more than 200 fires are currently burning. (Australian Defence Force via AP)
4 / 10A yellow light illuminates the sky as the sun sets over Akaroa Harbor as smoke from the Australian wildfires arrives on the east coast of the South Island, New Zealand. The early and devastating start to Australia’s summer wildfires has led authorities to rate this season the worst on record. (Eric Young via AP)
5 / 10About 5 million hectares of land have burned, with at least 17 people dead and more than 1,300 homes destroyed. (@AvaTheHuman via AP)
6 / 10A helicopter tackles a wildfire in East Gippsland, Victoria state. Wildfires burning across Australia's two most-populous states trapped residents of a seaside town in apocalyptic conditions and were feared to have destroyed many properties and caused fatalities. (State Government of Victoria via AP)
7 / 10Smoke billows during bushfires in Buchan, Victoria. Authorities urged a mass exodus from several towns on Australia's southeast coast, an area hugely popular in the current summer peak holiday season, warning that extreme heat forecast for the weekend will further stoke raging fires. (Image Source: GLEN MOREY/via REUTERS)
8 / 10Smoke billows during bushfires in Bairnsdale. More than 50,000 people were without power and some towns had no access to drinking water, after catastrophic fires ripped through the region over the past few days, sending the sky blood red and destroying towns. (Image Source: GLEN MOREY/via REUTERS)
9 / 10A vehicle is engulfed in yellowish smoke as it travels along a highway during bushfires near Cooma, New South Wales. (Image Source: JODIE BRADBY CANBERRA AUSTRALIA/via REUTERS)
10 / 10A view of an explosion after bushfires caused a house to go up in flames in Rosedale, New South Wales. (Image Source: BETHANY KELLY/via REUTERS)
