"Phoenix" was the one word that sprang to mind when it came to mounting a name plaque on the Doran family's new Helensburgh home.
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Like the mythical bird, the house in Excelsa Avenue rose from the ashes - in this case the fires that swept through Helensburgh on Christmas Day in 2001.
"I'll never forget that night," says Anne Doran.
"My husband Phil told me, 'You go, and get the kids out of here', and he stayed with the house as long as he could."
She got the call at 11 o'clock that night to say the house was gone.
The main thing was they and their children Emily, Ash and Christopher, then aged 9, 7 and 6 respectively, were safe.
Their brick-and-tile house backed on to the State Recreation Forest and it bore the brunt of the fire - it was the only one in the street that completely burned down.
"I'd woken up with a bad feeling that day and as soon as I saw smoke I packed the baby photos and everything I could and put it in the trailer," Anne says.
"The kids were great - old enough to understand the danger and to co-operate but not old enough to understand the full implications.
"As we were rushing to get out, my fear was that the spot fires would set the trailer alight. But we managed to get down Bulli Pass and to my parents' house.
"A young couple a street away [Laurina Avenue] lost their home and never rebuilt," says Anne.
The Dorans thought long and hard about moving, but the community support convinced them to stay.
"We weighed it up and decided the town had too much going for it to leave behind, including the strong tradition of successful sporting clubs," Anne says.
"My daughter was a member of the state champion-winning team for pony club and my son Christopher is the current Australian surf lifesaving champion for under-19s two-kilometre run and under-19s state surfboat champion."
But Anne says there are times when flashbacks get the better of her, despite a NSW Fire Brigade mobile unit being parked at the end of their street only metres from their house.
"We all love it here, but when the temperature starts rising so too does my heartbeat," she says.
"I was a mess that 40-degree-plus day in January this year," she recalls.
"I sent the kids to Sydney and told them to stay there until it was safe.
"It's at times like that I realised I'm not completely over the fires."
