Exhausted firefighters in Queensland have called on Kiwi colleagues to help battle the deadly bushfires.
A drop in temperatures has offered a small reprieve but conditions are set to worsen on Tuesday.
In a battle they're barely winning, all help is welcome, as the raging fires move painstakingly close to Australia Zoo which is under threat for the second time in 24 hours.
Burning through a pine plantation, what locals witnessed was frightening.
Several residents felt nervous and helpless once they evacuated their homes, with some using security cameras to watch the towering flames close in on their neighbourhoods.
"I could see the flames on the camera, and it was just terrifying cause you couldn't do anything about it, just waiting to see if any houses are going to get caught," one woman told Newhub.
In the rural areas, street after street, home after home has been lost.
The flames moved through at a frightening pace.
"One minute I'm riding around, and then holy f**k I've got to get out of here," resident Paul Gallway told 7News.
Returning to his home, Gallaway's lunch was still on the stove.
"There's the chicken Maryland was cooking," he laughed, pointing to the charred piece of meat.
For firefighters, a break from the hot windy conditions is giving them a rare chance to push back against the flames.
"The winds are lighter, the temperatures are cooler, and there's a little bit more humidity which gives us the opportunity to really get stuck into it," Queensland Rural Fire Service's Joe Cullen said.
But it's really a race against time, with Tuesday's conditions set to deteriorate.
With 60 fires still burning across the state, the arrival of Kiwi reinforcements couldn't come at a better time.
