As the community came together at the Cowra Information and Neighbourhood Centre (CINC) last Friday morning to raise money for bushfire victims, a special guest was among the crowd.
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Kim Lamb and her partner lost their home in the south coast fires around Countegany and was forced to evacuate with just her dogs.
She said they had been unprepared for how quickly the fires spread and reached their property.
"We had been watching them (the fires) for weeks and ringing friends to ask if they were ok looking at the fire map," she said.
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"But the Countegany fire was the one that got us, it was really fast, it went from there to the Wadbilliga National Park and through Cobargo, we got warning to leave at 8.30am on New Years Eve but by 1pm it was right there and we felt we had to leave.
"The sky was red, I'd gone to have a sleep and my partner was thinking of joining me but went outside and came and got me to have a look. When I did, we left, if we had gone to sleep, we would have been dead.
"As we left the fire was coming onto our property, there was no RFS because they were so thin on the ground and didn't have the resources to spare.
"There are a lot of people affected and even though we have lost everything, there are people worse off then us, they may be ill or have kids, two people did die down the road from us at Cobargo so you can be sad but recognise we're alive and have a future."
Ms Lamb is now staying with friend and Cowra resident Deborah Neumann and said she was blown away by the support shown to her.
"Apart from our friend Deb who has accommodated us, the generosity from this community is just amazing," she said.
"We came here and have been given food, a new shirt I can wear to work, businesses have paid for things for us.
"The St George bank gave us new sheets and towels, a voucher for the pet store to buy food for our dogs, the owner of McDonald's in Bathurst and Orange has paid for a delivery of water to Deb's place.
"I'd like to thank the community for being so supportive and helping us, it's a lovely community," she said.
Ms Neumann said when she found out about her friend's situation, she messaged them straight away.
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"I've known Wendy for years and as soon as I found out their house burnt I sent a message to them saying 'please come here I have room, I have kennels you'll be safe'," she said.
"Some of the dogs they had to throw in the trailer, they didn't eat for five days and they were so stressed, one wouldn't come out of the trailer at all.
"So as soon as they got to my place they seemed to know it was safe, the dog that wouldn't come out bounced out wagging her tail," she said.
CINC CEO Fran Stead said it was fantastic to see the community rally together and support the victims.
"This is an amazing turn out, as devastating as the bush fires have been, events like this shows what community spirit is all about," she said.
"We were like everyone on our break and watching the fires unfold on TV and thought what can we do?
"We had seen lots of people we collecting goods and we got in contact with the Salvation Army and the logistics of collecting good for us wasn't an option. So we asked what do people need right at this moment and that was money.
"We've spoken to Steph Cooke's office and they have given us a list of a number of organisations who we'll get in contact with them and ask them where they feel the money should be directed," she said.