They are also with the thousands of fire-fighters who have turned out to battle the blaze in the Buangor range - the cost of which is yet to be fully counted.

We are in their debt. As we are to all our emergency service workers.

They turn out, in all weather and conditions, to make sure we are kept safe.

And, where possible, our homes

It may be weeks before the full extent off the losses from the blaze - smoke from which at one point looked like a nuclear blast - are known.

And they will still be on the job, an army of watching eyes and hands helping to pick up the pieces.

The other uplifting element of the past few days has been the stories of evacuees' resilience.

Of people who found a helping hand in shelters, on river banks, in the shops of towns on the fringes of the fire zone.

Places like Avoca, Maryborough, Ballarat, Ararat.

We have talked to who fled with their pets, the clothes on their backs and the hope that they would return to find their homes intact.

Let's hope they do.

This late fire season was predicted six months ago or more. it seems far fetched at the time, even more so given the torrential deluges of early January.

But nearly two months later the grass has grown and the landscape has dried out.

Our brown, cherished land is again a tinderbox.

By Wednesday we'll again be facing a day of high temperatures and fire risk.

Let's hope our valiant firies and those supporting them have had a chance to get the Buangor blaze under control by then.

For their sakes and ours.

Juanita Greville, Editor