The need for ongoing support for all sections of the community is what Rajarshi Ray wants to focus on - not on what they did at Silos Winery Estate in the middle of the Currowan Fire emergency.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Raj, as he is commonly known, his wife Sophie and the team from Silos closed the winery down and opened it up as an evacuation centre during the crisis.
He said they were not the only group of people who extended a helping hand to others.
"I think people pull together in a crisis really well and there are lots and lots of terrific examples of that," he said.
"The real challenge now comes now the immediate crisis has passed is people's well-being.
"Many people will be facing various personal feelings while others will be trying to cope with how their businesses would survive."
He knows people of the Shoalhaven, as has happened in the past, will support each other.
Raj is so concerned about the country's future he posted his first-ever political commentary piece.
He said the bi-partisan piece was addressed to both Prime Minister Scott Morrison and leader of the opposition Anthony Albanese.
"The real sense of absence of government has been filled in with an outpouring of community effort. Fundamentally the vast majority of people are very decent," he said.
This powerful piece appears in full below.
Read More:
Meanwhile, he let the various authorities like the Department of Primary Industries, know of the plans to open the winery up as an evacuation centre.
The RFS was kept up to date and logs/phone numbers of the people who stayed were kept and they had a bushfire evacuation plan.
At one point during the crisis, they evacuated for an hour.
"It was well planned and well-coordinated," he said.
They had 100 face masks, big water pumps, sprinkler systems and Raj said they were well prepared.
He estimates something like 40 to 50 families since December 20 and lots of stock took refuge at the winery.
The stock, like the people, were fed and watered.
People came from as far south as Wandandian and tourists also took shelter.
"Lots of people were grateful and it was a hugely emotional time as well," he said.
Raj said cooking for so many people was a challenge but they got the job done.
They did not run out of food or fuel.
Raj, after everything he faced over the past few weeks, is personally doing well.
"You know what? I am reminded how fortunate we are to live in the Shoalhaven and there are lots of people who look out for each other," he said.
"You could not ask for a more fearful, uncertain and frightening crisis and yet we pulled through it.
"There have been lots of tragedies along the way, no question about that, but even the people who have experienced tragedy have experienced the best our community has to offer."
Raj's political commentary
Dear Scott Morrison (ScoMo) and Anthony Albanese
The sky here is black.
Raining ash.
737s, heli's and Herc's have been flying overhead for days water bombing.
The RFS have made a stand here just a few hundred meters down the road.
We continue to host residents, livestock and travelers who have been stranded or evacuated.
Our friends fight on the front line, work in emergency centers and do what they can to hold the line.
Every piece of equipment we have is ready to fight with whatever water we have left.
After days, weeks, months and years of this, we are exhausted.
In our third year of drought and fires - our farm is basically dead - we harvested nothing last year.
My children are sad as they see on the news brave women and men (with - if we are honest - more courage than us) to give up their lives to help others.
We can no longer fill the world with plastic, pollution and politics and expect no consequences.
We no longer need 'economy first, environment second' because our farm and business can no longer participate in the economy that is left.
This is your time.
The two of you.
You can do it.
Do it together.
Australia has led the world in so many things, for so long, and you both can create history.
I know you are both busy.
But name the time and place - and I will come and help you with all that I know and the best I can.
My #nye2020 wish - my kids need a future.
So do yours.