Nerriga pub owner Phil Smith is sorting information sheets on financial assistance for fire affected residents as the lunch crowd begins to wander in.
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His wife Sarah is checking on the welfare of locals who greet each other with hugs as they gather for a meal at what has become the town's relief and recovery centre.
Since the Currowan fire arrived in full fury on December 23, the couple has been flat out distributing information, feeding the locals, helping them access disaster relief grants and being the social glue that has kept the town together.
But they're not complaining.
The fire may have destroyed 20 homes and many sheds and fences in the district but it also ignited a heartwarming community spirit that almost a month later still burns brightly.
"The generosity of people has just been overwhelming. It has already helped a lot," says Sarah, who became an advocate for community members impacted by the fire who needed help.
"It's such a shock at first, so sometimes it's confronting to make the phone call. We've encouraged people when they've felt ready."
Some people made the call to Centrelink and the next day emergency funds were in their account.
"We've encouraged a lot of the people who have lost everything to apply with the Red Cross as well. The Red Cross is also providing emergency relief grants."
Sarah has been going in to bat for people who don't fit the exact criteria to qualify for assistance, helping them get through to the right agency.
"I always say to them to come and and use the phone here, come and use the computer."
When the fire got to the town on December 23, people were told to gather at the evacuation point at the community hall, about 200 metres from the pub.
When the smoke got so thick they were having trouble breathing, they were evacuated to the pub, where they sheltered as the fire passed over the town, RFS crews outside hosing the building down.
"So the pub became the evacuation centre and it's been the safe spot ever since," Sarah says.
"The means of communication were broken so people would get the information to us and we would try to spread it as best we could."
Help came very quickly in the immediate aftermath of the fire.
At 2.30am on December 24, the first delivery arrived with water and other supplies.
A generator and cool room came shortly after and a roster of locals kept the kitchen going, preparing meals for displaced people, firefighters and workers tasked with making the road safe enough to reopen.
"The first couple of days were a bit hectic trying to work out what was happening and what worked," says Phil.
"But after that it calmed down and we got into a routine. Everyone was in the kitchen, different people at different times. There was a rotation of support."
Phil, who with Sarah, has owned the pub for six and a half years, likened the town's response to the disaster to a family rallying in times of need.
"Everyone always has their little arguments, a little bit of difference with other members of the family. But when there is a crisis everyone just comes together and everything's forgotten about, all the little problems of the past," he says.
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"We had people out dancing on the road. It's probably the first time they've been able to do that since it's been sealed," Chris says.
A delivery of 30 donated hams arrived and the East Nowra Bakery got 200 loaves of bread up to the town.
"I've had a lot of our locals who were badly impacted come up and said to me, 'You have no idea how that ham saw us through'," says Sarah.
Phil says the challenge now is to keep that community spirit going as the long haul of rebuilding gets under way.
"People are going to start going back to work and hopefully we can keep the community together and keep doing dinners and special gatherings to make sure people don't forget each other.
"People are going to need the continued support."
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