On days when temperatures rise and the sunset casts an orange glow over the land, Sophia McGillivery is reminded of the devastating fires that destroyed her Garvoc home.
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She sits on a plastic green chair on the side of the Sisters-Garvoc Road, just metres from where a 50-year-old power pole fell, causing the St Patrick's Day fire.
It's been more than a year since the blaze took her family's farm, including all but 60 of their 1000 sheep. Sophia lived with her parents Heather and Angus and four siblings Caleb, 23, Phoebe, 19, Claire, 17, and Ian, 9.
"Some days you remember it more than others," she said.
"When it's particularly windy or the temperatures rise, it brings back memories of the fire. Sometimes after it rains you get that charcoal smell or you see the orange glow of the sunset and you think there's another fire."
It's about supporting your neighbours - most of whom we didn't even know until this point. Now we're here week after week, talking about the fires or talking about nothing at all
- Sophia McGillivery
The McGillivery family are part of the 600 people who have turned up to a fire recovery van parked on the side of the road each Thursday. Some people attend every meeting, others every second or third.
The van is provided by CFA district five and has been running for more than 40 weeks.
Moyne Shire fire recovery manager Sue Rondeau said the van was a safe place for people to come together as the community struggles to rebuild.
"When we asked the community how they wanted to be engaged with each other, they said they didn't want to travel to Port Fairy or elsewhere for a committee meeting, they wanted something to come to them," she said.
"The van is a place where people can come and have a chat with each other in a safe place so they can tell us how they feel, share their problems with each other, solve problems with their neighbours and just really talk about what happened to them on the night."
The Standard visited the van a few days after Sophia's 22nd birthday. Sue organised a cake with candles and everyone sung happy birthday.
The five McGillivery children sat in a line with a sausage in hand and told of the night the fire tore through their home.
Caleb said there were fireballs as big as their house, dead birds falling out of trees and thick smoke everywhere. Sophia said the family grabbed whatever they could before fleeing their home.
"I think we all thought that it would be OK and we would just come back and everything would be still be there," she said.
"I remember I had two Akrubas and I was umming and ahhing about which one to take. They're expensive but I'm asking myself if I really need two, then I think to myself, this is ridiculous, we've got to go.
"My sister Phoebe grabbed the money boxes, the phones, special toys and a camera and Claire grabbed an old bag of apples."
The family travelled to the house of Angus' sister Marion Craven, where the Terang fire burned just three kilometres away.
"We only needed a wind change and the embers would have got us," Marion said.
The family spent two days at the house before they were allowed back on the farm to see what had survived.
Caleb said his father lost his beloved border collie Bert but two other dogs and a kitten were found alive.
"When we went back to the house we heard meowing and Pam the kitten was squeezed under the rubble of what used to be a shed," Caleb said.
"She was singed and had no whiskers but was OK. When we brought her home Ian cried and cried and said 'these are tears of joy'."
It is the second time the family has had to rebuild after Angus lost everything in the Ash Wednesday fires.
Sophia said the hardest thing was watching her parents suffer.
"It's 30 years of hard work just gone. It was like their life had suddenly come to an end again," she said.
"We knew how tough it was for mum and dad losing it all, especially things that had been in the family for five generations. But we talk about it a lot, mainly about how we lost everything but we survived, we're alive.
"We started coming to the van virtually since it started and have only missed a week or two. It's about supporting your neighbours - most of whom we didn't even know until this point. We were always busy doing our own things and sheep farmers don't really interact with dairy farmers.
"But now we're here week after week, talking about the fires or talking about nothing at all."
The fires that saved a life
Terang's Les Wise says the St Patrick's Day fires saved his life.
The retired farmer moved to the south-west about five years ago and was struggling with his mental health.
"I have always been busy so when I came here retired, I had nothing to do. It was really isolating and I was struggling with anxiety and depression," he said.
"I was questioning whether it was all worth it. But when the fires happened, I suddenly became really motivated to get on the ground and help those affected."
Mr Wise has helped replace hundreds of kilometres of burnt out farm fences and has never missed a week at the post-fire recovery van.
In December, he helped host a regatta on a dam adjacent to the Sisters-Garvoc Road.
"We put a lot of time into setting up flags for a start and finishing line on the water. About 70 people came and brought their kayaks and just clowned around.
"It was all a bit of nonsense but it was good nonsense. Everyone was just really happy."
Mr Wise said the St Patrick's Day Fires had changed his life.
"In a really selfish and strange way, this has been the most awesome thing that has ever happened to me in my life," he said.
"I've met so many new people and am really apart of their road to recovery. It has given me such a new lease on life. I found a person that I don't even remember. I finally have a purpose and I just want to keep keeping on."
The long road to recovery
Moyne Shire fire recovery manager Sue Rondeau said trauma affected everyone differently. She said it had been more than 40 weeks since the fires, but people were still unwell.
"It's really important for the broader community to understand that some people might take up to five years to fully recover and for some people it could be shorter," she said.
"Recovery is a long process. It takes time for people to recover and everyone travels at their own pace.
"And just because someone is OK today, doesn't mean they will be OK tomorrow."
Ms Rondeau said the post-fire recovery van would come to an end next month.
"Unfortunately our funding runs out at the end of June," she said. "We would love to see it continue beyond then, but at this point we are just trying to show the importance of the van and what it has done for this community."