I remember the "Red Darkness" and where I live was many kms from the fire. Still, the sky turned red; dark enough for the street lights to come on in the middle of the afternoon and cinders rained from the sky. The fire generated a wind. I include a couple of photographs that I took showing how it was, even many kms away. The tree is blurred because of the fire induced wind.
The photographs are not altered. That is how it was.