Cheryl Weston doesn't mind admitting she had a "minor breakdown" on Sunday night.
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The Tallong RFS Brigade catering officer had put in numerous days straight with her team, helping to feed firefighters out in the field.
"It was sheer exhaustion," she told The Post.
"I was ordered home and it was really hard to leave the team because I thought I was letting them down."
Mrs Weston, whose husband Alan, is also in the brigade, does not want to be singled out. Like so many in the unit, she describes it as "one big family" with everyone doing their bit.
But the Currowan fire tested everyone when it came calling on Saturday night. The blaze, which started in the Shoalhaven, spotted over into the gorge at the end of Caoura Road last week and has been lingering in national park ever since. It took a major turn on Saturday night, carried by southeast winds.
Mrs Weston, though not in the field, described it as the most terrifying night she'd been through.
"We all had a slight wow moment and then got down to what we were trained to do," she said.
"We knew we had a great crew looking after us. It was scary but we stood as one."
In a Facebook post on Sunday, the brigade described how the blaze made a run out of the bush onto Caoura Road, heavily impacting 14.5km from the village store. But thanks to efforts by Tallong, Marulan, Big Hill and Towrang brigades, they stopped its progress, without damage to property.
Another home was saved when the blaze turned northeast along the top of the gorge.
"It showed its teeth (when) it looked like making a run at a neighbouring property which had one of our Tallong Brigades quickly setting up for property protection," the Brigade wrote.
"The fire then turned to the east where it remains along the top of the gorge in thick inaccessible country. Further to the north it crossed Caoura Rd just north (of the 18km mark) and headed to the neighbouring northern villages with shocking devastation."
As is now well documented, Wingello, Penrose, Bundanoon and parts of Exeter bore the brunt of Currowan's fury. Currowan has destroyed more than 303,000 hectares, and its offshoot, the Morton fire in the Southern Highlands, over 21,000ha
We have such a closeknit team and it makes me proud.
- Jack Watling - Tallong RFS volunteer
Tallong RFS volunteer, Jack Watling, said it had been too dangerous to access the far reaches of Caoura Road to assess property damage. A drone surveyed the area on Monday but the results aren't known at this stage.
He described tree high flames rushing through bush but, like his colleagues, his training kicked into gear.
For Mr Watling, this fire season is reminiscent of the famous 1965 fire that started at Chatsbury, burnt all the way to Marulan, wiped out Tallong and didn't stop until it reached Nowra.
His late father, Jim, a Tallong orchardist and RFS volunteer, was fighting the blaze at Bannaby, near Taralga.
"I spent a lot of time around Wombeyan with the Green Wattle fire before things blew up around here and the way it was slowly working its way towards Chatsbury, I thought it could be like 1965 if we get a raging northeast wind," he said.
Back then, as a three-year-old, he recalled how his father had sent a message to his mother, telling her to pack up the car and get out of Tallong. The family drove towards Wingello.
"I can remember as we went up the hill out of Tallong, looking out the back window and seeing the smoke and flames following us. It was very frightening," Mr Watling said.
When it was safe to return, the village was virtually gone, including his father's extensive orchard. The side of their home was blackened and the young Jack was scared it had taken his bedroom out.
"All the orchards around us were gone. It took Dad 25 years to replant and get the trees up to bearing fruit again," he said.
"He had to work at Marulan Limestone Mine to make a living and build the farm up...I don't know how he did it.
"...It was so devastating to the economy because there were 44 orchards in the district and a lot didn't replant."
Mr Watling moved back to the family farm eight years ago and resumed his RFS volunteering. He spent 12 years as a paramedic and said the brigade was a neat fit. Recently, it's involved 12 hour days, little sleep and a ticking mind when rest comes. But it is no deterrent.
"You hear it a lot, but it is like a big family," he said.
"I like helping people and here, I can do the best for the community, as everyone is doing...We have such a closeknit team and it makes me proud."
Leaving the fire
Mr Watling and many others are relieved Tallong village escaped Currowan's rage but they're not being complacent
"Currently the fire is active in many places both on top of and on the northern and southern faces of the gorge," the Brigade's Facebook page stated.
"We fully expect it to make another run at Tallong but how, where and when is wholly up to the wind and weather gods."
While many Caoura Road residents left for friends' homes or evacuation centres, some remained.
Peter Downie and wife, Joan, have lived 10km along the road for the past 48 years. Armed with years of RFS experience, they decided to stay. Tanks were filled, hoses laid in readiness, the property was cleared and otto bins full of water placed at strategic points. Mr Downie said it was the biggest fire threat they'd experienced since they'd settled there and it was rare to be carried by southeast winds.
Sitting on his veranda with Joan and neighbours who were on a rotating watch, they could hardly see the fire's glow for the smoke.
"There was an eerie, ghostly feel before it came. All the birds disappear. Nature knows," he said.
"(Then) we could hear the constant roar in the gully behind and explosions of either trees or fuel drums going up."
The blaze skipped around to the northeast and rushed towards Wingello. Mr Downie was concerned for an elderly friend at Penrose who later told him his house had escaped the onslaught. The man had hosed everything, including floors inside his home and pulled his curtains down.
Mr Downie said he remained concerned for the unburnt country between Penrose and Wingello.
"My feeling is there's a still a threat to Tallong. When fire gets into the Shoalhaven Gorge it can cruise around under the cliff face and pop up anywhere," he said.
"With the amount of fuel around and the stressed trees, it's a prime candidate for fire."
However, he told The Post he remained "relaxed and confident" in his preparation."
Bumballa Street resident Bruce Robertson left on Saturday night but has been staying as long as possible, monitoring weather and fire apps. He and two other neighbours kept an eye on others' properties. Earlier, they had cleared a path between areas to escape if necesssary.
"There have been a few nights we've left," he said.
"On New Year's Day the wind was coming up bad. We looked at the speed and thought it was getting dodgy.
"...It's scary. When the smoke rolls in at speed, we (the nighbours) make a collective decision to leave and we all go at the same time."
In Goulburn, Mary and Peter Overton took advantage of the evacuation centre at the Recreation Area. Last week they packed up their chickens, ducks, Stanley the alpaca and their four dogs.
Mrs Overton said she wasn't taking any risks, with one road in and out of Tallong Estate where they lived. About 50 of the 169 residents had left.
"If the fire comes up the gorge, there's bushland right across and they won't stop it," she said last week.
"...We've done everything we know we should do (in terms of fire safety) but this fire is like nothing we've seen before."
The couple couldn't praise the evacuation centre management enough. It had allowed them to stay safely overnight and house their animals in comfort.
Feeding the troops
Back at the Tallong fireshed on Monday, volunteers exchanged their experiences while preparing dinner for those leaving for the nightshift.
The catering team has been feeding brigades from all over, thanks in part to a steady flow of food donations from the community and businesses. Mrs Weston said they'd been overwhelmed by people's generosity and were very grateful.
She told The Post that Tallong people had been scared and concerned and many had left.
In the brigade itself, there had been plenty of "moments."
"Over the past few weeks we've had some laughs and lots of tears from both men and women," she said.
"Being here is tough but we have a purpose in mind and we do it, but we do have community help.
"...We have some knockers but the minute people come up to thank us, it makes us want to do it even more."
Standing nearby, Zoe Palk, a volunteer of 20 years, described Saturday night as "horrendous"
"I don't have words to describe it but I've also been stressed about how our friends in Wingello are going," she said.
Marulan veterinary nurse, Kerrie Lawrence's partner is an RFS volunteer. But she's been staying in Goulburn with her 11-year-old daughter, Shelby, because the youngster is scared.
"I've seen three fires in my 21 years here and this would be the worst," she said.
"We are all scared and worried but people shouldn't come back too soon. They need to realise these fires aren't stoppable. They run in the wind and they don't stop."
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