New Year's Eve - Surf boat competitors describe becoming first responders as bushfires hit NSW south coast. As the Clyde Mountain and Badja Forest Road fires tore their way towards coastal communities on the NSW far south coast on the morning of New Year's Eve, thousands of people took refuge at surf clubs. That same morning, more than 400 surf club members from across NSW and interstate, who had travelled to compete in the biennial George Bass surf boat marathon, abandoned the race to take on the role of first responders in the unfolding emergency. (read on)

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