Grandparents in Australia were able to save five of their grandchildren after fires tore through the country.

With bushfires ravishing their way through Dunalley, Tasmania, the Holmes family were forced to flee from their home with grandfather Tim Holmes and grandmother Tammy leading their five grandchildren (aged 2, 4, 6, 9, 11) to safety.

“Tornadoes of fire” were said to have hit the area, according to NBS News. Despite their harrowing ordeal, Tim Holmes documented the experience in a series of photographs – illustrating just how devastating the fires were.

The family own three homes in the area, all of which were caught up in the inescapable disaster at the start of the month. After reaching a jetty – keeping themselves near to water, to prevent the flames from getting to them – Tim took a few snaps to keep the memories intact.

“The next thing we knew everything was on fire, everywhere, all around us. There was no other escape,” Holmes explained to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The ordeal – which lasted for around two and a half hours – saw the family make a few attempts to put the fire out with seawater before they escaped on a dinghy and were able to explain all that they had gone through.

The fires are said to have been a combination of climatic factors. They explained that the record high temperatures, added to the long period of without without any rain led to what Australian official are referring to as the “most dangerous conditions for fires on record.”

Click here to look through Tim Holmes’ photographs of the experience.