Lighting strikes and starts what is to become a long, hot and treacherous summer for young volunteer firefighters Tash and Mott.

Dairy farmers Kath and Duncan return to their farm in the aftermath of the fire while grief and blame threaten to tear the family apart.

Tash and Mott join the local fire-fighting effort in a small beachside community as locals and tourists alike have to make the difficult decision of whether to stay or flee.

On Christmas Eve, Tash and Mott escort locals from a small rural community to a community hall for refuge from the fires.

The fire fronts join up creating a "megafire" and there aren't the resources to fight. As a wall of flames bear down on Ruth and Nawra, desperately defending their home and the wildlife they care for, conflicting priorities at the fire control centre leave them in peril.

It's New Year's Eve. A usually picturesque holiday town looks like a war zone - as day turns to night, then the sky turns blood-red, people rush to the water's edge for safety.