"We managed to pack the car last night, but we didn’t think it would be that early."
As they drove, they left behind them an eerie red glow coming over the mountains.

"It was so creepy,” Mrs Hudson says, “You could just hear the fire roaring."

Verona, and surrounding suburbs like Quaama and Cobargo to the north were in the direct path of the blaze.

"It was almost like it was aiming for our house."

With her and her family safe in a friend’s home in Bega, her next big concern is for her sister’s boyfriend, who jumped in a dam for safety while defending his property in Wandella.

"They were non-responsive, acting a bit crazy,” she said, "We think it’s smoke inhalation.”

"We’ve heard through the grapevine they’re brushing off the smoke inhalation and are sticking around to put out spot fires. [It’s] very frustrating."