Tathra locals are sifting through the ashes of their homes, or gathering in cafes to discuss what happened and what comes next, as a sense of momentum returns to the NSW township which stared down a firestorm.
Questions about what triggered the weekend blaze and the efficacy of the emergency response linger in the air as did the smoke just days ago.
Now, five days on, as more and more residents return, they're thinking about the long process of rebuilding.
A coronial Inquest launched in the fire's wake will seek to pinpoint the cause of the blaze while an independent inquiry will examine accusations a breakdown between metropolitan and rural fire brigades compromised the firefighting effort.
Early investigations suggest power lines along a road on the edge of the national park that borders Tathra likely caused Sunday's fire.
Temperatures in the high 30s and 70km/h winds whipped up a firestorm that rushed toward the town after it jumped the Bega river.
Embers, described by one witness as "flaming hand grenades", indiscriminately incinerated dozens of homes.
"It sounded like a freight train when it hit us," Doug Spindler told AAP this week.
"All I could hear while we drove off was glass breaking and gas bottles exploding."
Emergency text messages didn't reach some residents in time because of notoriously patchy reception.
Some were totally unaware of the encroaching inferno until police were patrolling the streets shouting "Evacuate! Evacuate!" through a loud-hailer.
It took days of intense firefighting, aerial water bombardment and rain to bring the fire under control.
The only noise in vast swathes of charred bushland around Tathra now comes from embers crackling inside dead trees.
In total 65 homes were destroyed along with 35 cabins and caravans. A further 48 houses were damaged while 810 were saved or untouched by the blaze.
The worst hit properties are taped off and plastered with warning signs while authorities forensically test for asbestos.
Some residents crossed the tape on Thursday to pick through the rubble and salvage what they could. They face months in temporary accommodation while the sites of the former homes are cleared.
Meanwhile, the town's remaining cafes and shops have become meeting places for residents swapping stories of survival.
One resident said an evacuated relative stopped in at her home and "asked if she could wash the dishes".
"She just needed to do something," she said.
"When she was about to run out the door all she thought to grab was two tops and the kitchen mixer. Later she told me she had no idea why she thought to take that."
Many locals say the government must now work to improve mobile phone reception in Tathra with the fire proving the signal blackspot is not just a "nuisance" but "dangerous".
All the residents who spoke to AAP applauded the firefighters who saved the town.
But some question emergency service chiefs after the Fire Brigade Employees Union claimed an "ongoing turf war" between the volunteer-based RFS and the professional Fire & Rescue contributed to the losses.
The RFS declined an offer of assistance from their urban counterparts for a pumper because - they say - it would have struggled in the hilly terrain.
But one resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said it sounded like a "cop out" given the fire was destroying homes in an urban area.
"Whoever is calling the shots - and I don't know who that is - I think they made the wrong choice," he told AAP.
The captain of the Bega RFS said accusations FRNSW were locked out of the bush were a "load of rubbish".
"If the RFS said no then how did the Merimbula Fire & Rescue travel about 45 minutes to the scene and be with my crew on the same side of the fire line?" he said on Facebook.
Law firm Slater and Gordon is considering launching a class-action lawsuit if it becomes clear Essential Energy did not follow "stringent inspection and ongoing maintenance requirements" that could have prevented the bushfire.
Dungog Shire Community Centre support worker Nina Williams says the road ahead for Tathra residents will be long and fraught with setbacks as well as victories.
Many will turn to familiar faces - people who don't need to hear the whole story - to cope.
"It's about talking to people who can ask how are you really going," she told AAP.
Williams' Hunter Valley community is about to mark three years since floods destroyed hundreds of homes and left three dead.
The mental load will be particularly challenging when dealing with the insurance providers and banks central to the recovery, Williams warns.
"They're already dealing with the trauma of the event let alone the bureaucracy."
Survivors guilt will also rear its head in Tathra. It always does in small communities hit by a disaster.
Esther Lodge owner Joanne Coulton, who will house displaced locals in her holiday home, says the town's recovery will depend on getting tourists back.
"You've still got your beautiful beach and coastline even though, yes, the houses that burned down look devastating," she told AAP.
"But if people want to come to Tathra to chill out - they'll come. I know they'll come back. I know they'll return."
Australian Associated Press
