Jess Johnstone knows what it's like to lose everything to fire.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It's happened to her twice now.
Nine years ago, she and her mother were living in another part of Bargo, south-west of Sydney, when an electrical fault triggered a fire that gutted their house.
They were left with nothing but the clothes on their backs and had to start from scratch.
Then, on Thursday, it happened again.
This time, it was bushfire that tore through the family property on Yarran Road, decimating the caravan that Mrs Johnstone, 26, her husband Carl, 30, and their toddler daughter Zara had called home for the past two years while saving for a property of their own.
Her mother's house, mere metres away, remains standing thanks to the efforts of firefighters but has significant water damage.
Meanwhile, firefighters were also able to save Mr Johnstone's motorbike, which they wheeled away from the blaze, despite it weighing in excess of 200kgs.
The couple are among dozens of families left homeless as a result of the state's raging bushfires, some of which have burned unabated for more than a month.
Surveying the remnants of their caravan on Sunday morning, the pair said they were simply relieved no one was hurt.
Both were at work - Mrs Johnstone in Leumeah and Mr Johnstone in Appin - when they got a text message on Thursday morning saying they needed to evacuate immediately.
Mrs Johnstone's mother was home at the time. She grabbed her granddaughter and her own mother and fled to Picton.
Forty minutes later, fire swept through the property.
I'm going to pass it on to the firies - I'm going to ask them what they need and if they want Powerade then they're going to get $200 or $300 worth of Powerade.
Aside from the standard items lost - clothing, bedding, children's toys etc - Mr Johnstone had a prized sword collection which went up in flames.
But the couple remains stoic in the face of their adversity, helped in turn by extended family members and two very supportive and generous workplaces.
"We had our Christmas party last night and a few of the guys have donated their $100 bonus to us," Mr Johnstone said.
"I'm going to pass it on to the firies - I'm going to ask them what they need and if they want Powerade then they're going to get $200 or $300 worth of Powerade."
Ms Johnstone's workplace has also jumped on board to help the family.
"They've put together so much stuff for us," she said.
The trio will stay with friends over Christmas before beginning their search for a rental.
The feeling of helplessness and loss is one with which Jess Johnstone is all too familiar.
She and her husband Carl were both at work when the fire claimed their caravan on Thursday, leaving them with just the clothes on their backs and two motorbikes, one of which firefighters had managed to save before the van became engulfed in flames.
The couple had moved back to live with Mrs Johnstone's family on their Yarran Road property in 2017 to save money to buy their own home.
It's the second time Mrs Johnstone and her mother have been hit by fire in a decade.
"We lost our house at Bargo in 2010 due to an electrical fire," Mrs Johnstone said. "I had to start over from that and now we have to start over from this."
