Stan Brown does not have to look far to see what saved his and many other homes in Basin View.
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A backburn operation at the back of his Harris Avenue home saved his property when the Currowan bushfire emergency peaked on Saturday.
"The other day (Saturday) it was coming from Tomergong," Stan said on Monday.
"However, last Thursday they back-burned out the back and then I spoke to our local RFS captain.
"He (the RFS captain) said if they had not back-burned all these properties would have gone."
Like many others, he is coming to grips about how they were saved yet many others were not.
"We felt lucky but it's hard to describe your feelings," Stan said.
Early in the emergency, around the News Years eve mark, a fire started its approach towards the Basin View village.
Locals and holiday owners both gathered on the street - weighing up their options and it was a case of "when you go we will go".
"I said "well we are going in 10 minutes because it was coming in from Wandandian and it was getting quite close. We then said 'right let's go'," he said.
They headed to the evacuation centre at the St Georges Basin Country Club in Sanctuary Point.
"I forget what time it was but a few hours later the southerly came which blew through Bewong and this meant we were okay and left the centre and came back home," he said.
However, Stan said then more hellish conditions came back their way on Saturday.
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In the middle of the emergency not being able to communicate with others was hard.
Stan has a friend in Conjola Park who he had lost contact with as they had no power and no mobile coverage.
"Then I heard him speaking on the car radio and was relieved to hear he was good," Stan said.
"I could receive phone calls but I could not make phone calls - we could not communicate with anyone around us."
From Saturday they were without power for two days.
He was lucky a generous neighbour allowed him to connect to their generator.
Stan said it was a case of neighbours helping neighbours in a show of community unity.
"Without that help, we would have lost food and stuff," he said.
They are now trying to go back to a bit of normality and hope the worst is over.
However, he knows they still need to be prepared.
"We are not nervous and feeling a lot better, especially with this rain," he said on Monday.
"However, then with the lightning, you just never know - it could hit a tree somewhere but we are feeling a lot better."
Stan has lived in Basin View for 17 years and said it was the worst bushfire they have faced - far greater than the Christmas 2001/2002 fire.
"This one came a lot closer, especially from Wandandian and up at The Wool Road," he said.
"Mind you we are very lucky and other areas have copped it."
Now is a case of putting away things, doing a clear up and getting back to normal.