A Nerrigundah couple are full of gratitude for Blaze Aid volunteers, for saving them six months of work putting up fences after New Year's Eve flames destroyed them.
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Lyle and Barbara Stewart lost their house and fences to flames - but feel lucky they still have one another, and were able to turn their surviving shed into a makeshift home.
At 3.30am on New Year's Eve, Mr Stewart dropped Mrs Stewart and their three dogs off at Moruya's Riverside Park, before returning to Nerrigundah.
With no hope against the firestorm, he took refuge in a 2001 Subaru Forester which he had only just bought for $600 from a friend.
"By 9.30am, it was all over," he said.
The house was gone, but their shed, tractor, generator and chainsaw were saved.
It took Nerrigundah residents nearly six hours to cut their way through felled burnt trees on the eastward road that night.
Although their insurance policy covered them for 12 months' accommodation at Tuross, Mr Stewart returned every day to work on the shed, and the pair were home again six months later.
They said the volunteers were excellent, and their new fence helped keep their kelpies - Bella, Archie and Shadow - inside.
"When I look along the fence line, they did a lot better job than I used to do," Mr Stewart laughed. "Everybody I've talked to say it's just fantastic."
Moruya Blaze Aid volunteer and Irish visa holder Lauren Campbell said her five-month experience was "amazing".
"When you've been sweating all day, your shoulder's sore, your back's sore, their (property owners) smile helps," she said.
The Blaze Aid team left their Moruya base at the end of October after eight months of re-fencing Eurobodalla Shire properties.