Just when we thought the fire emergency was over, it returned with renewed spite on Thursday. By early afternoon, there were five fires at emergency warning level in the south east of NSW, three of them on the Far South Coast.
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One of those was the Clyde Mountain fire, which tore through Malua Bay and the southern suburbs of Batemans Bay on New's Year Eve.
Once again, the dreaded SMS message went out, telling people in Merricumbene and the Deua Valley it was too late to leave.
The Morton fire in the Wingecarribee, the blaze that wrought destruction on Wingello, was upgraded to a Watch and Act alert level.
The giant Currowan fire, which on Wednesday was listed as under control, was upgraded to being controlled. On the northern outskirts of Milton, RFS crews and residents battled to bring a grass fire under control in challenging conditions.
Fierce heat and a howling wind also brought a huge dust cloud into the region, reminding us all despite recent rain that had greened up lawns and paddocks, the drought is not over and the fire danger will remain with us all summer - possibly well into autumn.
For communities who have lived in peril for weeks now, the return of dangerous fire conditions on Thursday added to the exhaustion this summer has delivered.
And it was a grim reminder of what the RFS has been telling us all along - that we are not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination.
There is simply no room for complacency.
Many of us directly affected by fire have already been through the process of formulating a bushfire survival plan.
Those who haven't need to do so immediately.
First, they need to work out whether they will stay and defend. From accounts we've heard this is the hardest decision. Some of the toughest people we know have fought the flames and vowed never to do it again. They were well prepared physically but couldn't face the psychological challenge again.
Second, they need to work out when they will go - the trigger points can be as simple as "if it crosses the highway or the river, we're out of here". When a fire is bearing down on you, there is no time for indecision. And they need to know where they'll go.
We urge everyone who has not done so to get on the RFS website and step through the survival plan process. Do not delay.