Australian grandparents save 5 kids by taking refuge from fire in water [PHOTO]

To escape the raw wildfire tornado that was heading toward their house, Tammy and Tim Holmes hid their grandchildren, and their dog, in the water near a boat ramp in Dunalley, Tasmania on Jan. 4, The New Zealand Herald reported.

Tammy and the children went inside the water first. Tim stayed behind to take a picture he could send the children's parents to let them know they were safe, and joined them later on.

The children's mother, Mrs. Walker, said that it was very upsetting to see her kids "huddle up in neck-deep sea water."

"My father rallied against all odds and managed to go up and get a little dinghy off the foreshore," Walker told the Hearld. "Loaded our children in and my mum and then dragged it into a headwind and got them to safety."

The photo Tim took for his daughter went on to become viral on the web, and the couple's brave actions are being dubbed 'heroic' by people all over the world.