BLACK SUMMER BUSHFIRES REBUILDING FROM THE ASHES

FIVE YEARS ON, RONNIE IS HELPING OTHERS IN HER TOWN

- Sarah Marinos

In the early hours of December 31 2019, Ronnie Ayliffe stood in her home, north of Cobargo, and watched a deep red glow on the horizon. She quickly woke her husband, Phillip, and their two children and warned them that fire was coming - fierce and fast.

In an event now known as the 'Black Summer', Cobargo on NSW's far South Coast was one of the many communities to experience how savage and unforgiving nature can be.

"Everyone in Cobargo knew we were going to have a bad summer in terms of fire, but we didn't realise it would be so devastating," Ronnie, 58, tells New Idea.

Her dad, Brian, and brother Mark were stalwarts of the local Rural Fire Service. They'd weathered harsh conditions, so Ronnie had never been afraid of fire. But as she watched the horizon, she knew this fire was of an alarming scale and intensity.

"The fire began spotting ahead of itself, like someone throwing fireballs, and the wind and noise were indescribable-like sitting behind a jet engine,"

Ronnie recalls.

The family used hoses to wet their home, but as the air grew thick and smoky, Ronnie decided to evacuate her 14-year-old daughter, EJ, to Cobargo. There, they sheltered on the town's showgrounds with other residents.

"EJ has asthma, so I had to take her to safety and that meant driving through the fire front, past kilometres of burning trees and houses," she says. "Everything was on fire."