The fire down below. #AustraliaIsBurning #AustraliaFires

Photos from the fire down below. Links below on how to help.

“My last day of the decade felt like the apocalypse.” Matt Abbott

Photo by Matthew Abbott, @mattabbottphoto

“My last day of the decade felt like the apocalypse. Been covering the Australian bushfires for the last 6 weeks, but haven’t seen anything like yesterdays fire that decimated the town of Conjola, NSW. #bushfirecrisis #AustralianBushfires #NSWisburning work for @nytimes”
Photo by Matthew Abbott, Instagram link

That’s an amazing photo that instantly puts you in a place.  When I was learning to be a photographer the teacher at the Nikon School of Photography said, “No guts, no glory.  If your photos are weak, you are probably too far away.”  For me that meant stepping into the middle of a 4th of July parade to take a photo of Shriners walking toward me.  I wonder how long he had to wait in that fire zone to get that kangaroo in the shot? These photographers have some real guts.

Now that you have an idea of where the fire is, here’s a graphic for how big it is. I found this on Reddit where they like to compare the size of things by saying “Banana for scale.” In this case

Fighting the fire from the sky

Photo (c) Nick Moir. Chief Photographer for The Sydney Morning Herald since 1993 http://Oculi.com.au specialising in stormchasing , severe weather, bushfires. @nampix

Photo (c) Nick Moir.  Orangeville in far SW Sydney Green Wattle Creek fire #bushfires @nswrfs https://www.instagram.com/p/B5sHTEFAW7N/

Burnt livestock 

Burnt livestock on the Tumut to Batlow road just outside the Snowy Mountains town of Batlow, after severe fire went through the town on Saturday. Picture: Rohan Kelly Source:News Corp Australia

Smoke from Australian fires

Photo by hankb555

The Gospers Mountain Monster Fire

Photo (c) Nick Moir. The Gospers Mountain Monster in full rage. 5pm Bilpin #bushfires   The red dot is the Gospers Mountain. Link       The Gospers Mountain Fire  Photography Dean Sewell/Oculi for the Sydney Morning Herald The Gospers Mountain Fire Photography Dean Sewell/Oculi for the Sydney Morning Herald Aluminum melts at 1,221 degrees Fahrenheit Photo by Matt Abbott, a photographer based in Sydney. Represented by @panospictures  Conjola, New South Wales, Australia   Millions of embers fill the air in the Green Wattle Fire  Photo (c) Nick Moir. “I did a re-edit and found a slightly better version of the previous published image as millions of embers fill the air as the Green Wattle Fire erupted out of the bush in Orangeville. Respect to the #nswfb #bushfires”   How to help Bushfire relief: How you can help those in need The Lucknow Memorial hall outside of Bairnsdale is full of donated clothes, food and toys from the community for victims of the Gippsland bushfires. Picture: David CroslingSource:News Corp Australia From News.com.au The scale of the crisis is hard to comprehend. The wildfires have so far burned more than 12 million acres, they have killed at least 24 people, and nearly 2000 homes have been destroyed. In New South Wales alone, the fires have killed nearly 500 million birds, reptiles and mammals.They have a great list who you can help ranging from firefighters to wildlife. (Links to how to help.