The ''daunting" moment of seeing trees on fire during Ash Wednesday is something Allansford's Beverley Byron will never forget.
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Ms Byron attended the Country Fire Authority's 40th anniversary memorial service at Panmure on Sunday.
"It still affects me," she said. "You still feel for all of those people."
The then Allansford Country Women's Association president said volunteers were called on to feed the community until Red Cross volunteers arrived on February 16, 1983.
"I was also the president of Premier Speedway so I went over and gathered things up, coffee containers and all sorts of things," Ms Byron said.
She said she was instructed to go to Naringal hall.
With the help of her mother and aunt, they went to IGA to get supplies.
"They said 'go in and get what you want and come out with whatever you need to make the sandwiches and that for the firefighters'," Ms Byron said.
As they approached the hall, she said those in charge of the roads said "you can't go to the Naringal hall, it's not there anymore".
Instead, they prepared the food at a house and delivered it to the firefighters on the farms.
She said later in the day the volunteers were asked to come back to Panmure.
"By this time, it was quite scary coming across Naringal-Panmure Road to here because all of the trees were on fire," Ms Byron said.
"It was quite daunting."
Ms Byron said the CWA volunteers stayed at the Panmure hall on the night of the fires to feed the firefighters upon their return.
She stayed there until until 2am while her husband looked after their children.
She said her mother and aunt didn't leave until 9am when the Red Cross from Melbourne arrived.
She said in the aftermath, CWA members attended Panmure for briefings.
They also assisted at the clothing and food hub at Allansford and District Primary School.
"We played a big part for a really long time," she said.
For six months CWA members visited farmers on a daily basis to deliver enough food for the day.
And in the years that followed, they continued to assist those impacted by the fires.
"All the branches of the CWA pulled together," she said.
They organised craft days at the Ayrford hall to keep the residents occupied.
"We would have a morning coffee and we'd take them out some goodies," Ms Byron said. "Lots of the ladies took out plants to replant in their gardens."
She said it also gave people the opportunity to talk.
"To feel that they weren't the only one because there were others in the same situation," Ms Byron said.
"Some people never get back on their feet after such a loss."
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