South Street, Tuncurry resident, Andrew O'Sullivan said the only word to describe Saturday night's fire was horrific.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Three days later and the once lush wetland, rainforest, palm forest and nursery resembles a moonscape as a result of the fire which tore through the 2.2ha property.
For more than 12 hours Andrew watched in horror as the fire ravaged the property and threatened his home.
Throughout the destruction Andrew remained on-site into the early hours of Sunday morning assisting volunteers fighting to save the property.
The situation began to unfold around lunch time on Saturday afternoon when cabbage trees on the property began to pop and explode.
"It came from the north and south and met up in the middle,"
The Minimbah fire, which began more than a week ago, had jumped both the Coolongolook River and a small creek at the back of the property.
"I had a gut feeling this might happen," Andrew said.
A planned trip to Sydney was cancelled as Andrew spent much of Friday cleaning debris from around his house and extending irrigation hoses throughout the property.
"I became concerned when I saw smoke from the Minimbah fire."
I had a gut feeling this might happen.
- Andrew O'Sullivan
At one stage his property was completely surrounded by a fire wall which reached heights of an estimated 30 metres.
"The firies did an amazing job."
Concerned about the welfare of native wildlife which live on the wetland property, Andrew asked fire fighters to watch out for turtle eggs.
It became their mantra, as firies all reminded one another to not step on turtle eggs.
"I only found one dead possum."
He also lost about 200 trees and many metres of irrigation line.
Andrew told the Great Lakes Advocate on Monday morning he still wasn't out of the woods just yet.
As trees continue to smoulder, it would only take the wind to pick up again, he said.
Andrew, who has lived on South Street for more than 25 years, said 30 years had passed since the last big bushfire.
He believed there was a lot of merit in a controlled burn every seven years, similar to what Aboriginals have been undertaking for hundreds of years.
"One of the great things that came out of this sad occasion was the community came together.
"It was powerful."
Members of the community came throughout the day and night with food and refreshments.
Stay ahead with local news by signing up for the Great Lakes Advocate newsletter here.