This week marks an anniversary, although not a pleasant one - it's one year since the bushfires of 2019 turned the skies black and threatened the townships of Greta and North Rothbury.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
And Trevor Kedwell, deputy captain of Greta Rural Fire Brigade who fought both blazes, has a word of warning: "We were fortunate, the Hunter didn't really burn last year," he said.
"A couple of quick, very intense blazes that we were able to control fairly quickly, nothing that dragged on for a couple of days.
"It was an incredible effort, especially as the bush was so dry ... the worst drought I've seen in in my lifetime, for sure.
"We were also fortunate that when the fires did start, we had crews from Victoria up here on standby at Singleton, so we had the resources at the ready."
But Mr Kedwell says that success means there are a new set of dangers this year.
"Because the Hunter got off fairly lightly, there was fuel left on the ground that didn't burn," he said. "Now after good rain, we have all that growth and we're about to go into fire season. The temperature is supposed to hit 38C by Monday.
"So this could all dry out very quickly. I'm urging people not to be complacent, because all that fresh growth could mean another very dangerous season."
Ironically, when last season's fires broke out Lower Hunter crews had been deployed top up north, around Moree, Inverell and Port Macquarie.
"We hadn't been back long and with everything so dry and hot windy conditions, we all went in to the station because we knew there was every chance we'd get the call.
"Coming back from up north we'd all noticed just how dry it was.
"Then we heard on the radio that the North Rothbury captain could see flames and we just hit the road even before our pagers went off.
"Like us a lot of other stations were on standby. We were able to hit the fire hard and early.
"It was good planning from our headquarters in Homebush.
"It was the same at Greta. We arrived there and there were other trucks and helicopters on the scene already.
"It makes such a difference when the resources are at the ready."
Mr Kedwell said while numerous houses were threatened at both locations, not one actually burnt down.
Having said that, he said the prospect of houses being lost was very real for a while there.
"The hard part about fighting a fire isn't the heat," he said. "It's when the smoke gets so thick around you that you can't see and you lose perspective, become disorientated ... you can't see the bloke a couple of metres away. That's the danger.
"And the other thing you have to remember is that fighting fires is not a sprint. You want to stop the flames as quickly as you can, but fighting fires can go on for hours and hours, sometimes days.
"It's important you pace yourself. Be on the hose for maybe 20 minutes, then change over with one of the other guys."
HOW IT UNFOLDED
'Catastrophic' fire danger was forecast on Tuesday, November 12, 2019 - the highest level of bushfire danger - and a State of Emergency was declared.
A fire broke out off Wine Country Drive, North Rothbury around 3pm on the Tuesday afternoon, and was quickly elevated to emergency-level.
By 4.15pm that afternoon, a fire on Harper Street, Greta had also been elevated to emergency-level.
Both fires were downgraded to advice level by that night, but the Greta blaze broke containment lines around 12pm on the Wednesday, returning to 'watch and act' status, before being brought under control about three hours later.
RELATED CONTENT
A journo all my working life and never wanted to change, also a self confessed sports tragic.
A journo all my working life and never wanted to change, also a self confessed sports tragic.
