Australian family describes the terror of dealing with bushfires

After saving their home from the "terrifying infernos" burning through parts of Australia, one family tells CBC's David Common they hope the bushfires ravaging the country serve as a wake-up call for their country and the world.

AnnabelDobson, who worked alongside her husband and son-in-law to save their hobby farm from fire, saysan "innate sense of self-protection" kicked in as the fire approached their home on New Year's Eve in Bemboka, ina drought-stricken partof New South Wales.

The familysaved thehome without help from fire crews, who are stretched thin as the country deals with thisdevastating fire season.

While her home is safefor now, Dobson says what the country is facing is "a tragedy beyond the scale we hoped we'd ever see.

"I really hope that people wake up. We can't just pretend that someone else is going to fix this for us. We can't sit here thinking this will go away."

Tiffany Crowley Bacon, Annabel's daughter, lives with her parents, husband and young son at the farm. She said she's concerned politicians don't care enough about climate change and the increased risk it creates.

Crowley Bacon and her infant son George left for Canberra right before firehit the farm. It was too dangerous for George to be exposed to the smoke let alone the risk the fire posed to the farm.

"I don't think that they quite care about the land, because they're not living on it," she said. "I don't think it's politicians now. I think it's 40 years of inaction, 40 years of denying what's going on."

Learn more about the fires in Australia:

• 'It's unprecedented': What is behind Australia's devastating fires?
  
• CBC IN AUSTRALIA:Inside a sanctuary struggling to save koalas from wildfires
  
• WATCH 'We can't treat it as normal': Fires continue to devastate Australia
  
• 'A little bit of crazy': Manitoba firefighter helping to battle out-of-control wildfires in Australia
  
• As Australia burns, a plan for a joint seaborne firefighting unit is getting a 2nd look