On the morning of Dec. 31, 2019, residents from the close-knit community of Mallacoota, Australia, fled to the ocean in an attempt to escape a huge bushfire headed their way. Local resident David Jeffrey claims it was prayers that spared them.
“We were bracing for the worst,” Jeffrey explained to the BBC from his hometown in the East Gippsland region of Victoria. “It should have been daylight, but it was black like midnight and we could hear the fire roaring.”
