While the tornadoes of flame, the pyrocumulus storms and the mass evacuations have played out like scenes from a disaster movie, for all of us living in the midst of the disaster what really stands out are the people.

In years to come, as we remember the blackened forests and charred ruins, we must not forget the singular beauty at the heart of this disaster - the people.

From the firefighters battling to the point of exhaustion to the children whose homes have been threatened insisting on saying thank you, from the residents putting out food and water for displaced wildlife to the total strangers offering comfort to stranded motorists, these past few weeks have brought the best of humanity to the surface.

Our reporters travelling the fireground day in, day out have all noticed it: a renewed sense of community and an openness among normally reticent people. Everyone, it seems, now has the time to stop and chat, to share their experiences and their feelings.

On blackened roads - closed to all but emergency and media vehicles - everyone waves. That signature Aussie greeting of the back roads is back in business, the hand raised from the steering wheel, a human connection in a lonely and desolate place.

The sight of a little girl in her fairy princess outfit holding a thank-you sign up to passing fire trucks puts smiles on weary, soot-streaked faces.

Young and old, rich and poor, town or country - we are all in this together.

Across the country - indeed the world - people we don't know have stepped up to help our embattled communities.

Their generosity has been so great, it now presents a unique logistical problem. Just how do we get donated supplies to the towns that need them on damaged roads already under extreme pressure? This is why the call has gone out to donate money rather than goods.

Everywhere we go, we hear of acts of kindness. Dave Bright at Budgong, changing the tyre for a TV crew after only a few hours earlier being in the fight of his life; strangers offering accommodation; businesses offering refuge for people with large animals, neighbours saving houses; shopkeepers just lending an ear.

We will never forget.