Jamie Zaia is still coming to terms with losing "everything" in the bushfire that destroyed his family home, but the father-of-three feels lucky to be alive.
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The farmer has battled countless grass fires in the Upper Macleay where he has lived his entire life, but nothing could prepare him for the merciless inferno travelling towards his property last Friday afternoon.
Police arrived on Jamie's property, which is 1km outside the small country town of Willawarrin, at 4.35pm and informed him "it's probably time to go" as the Carrai East fire moved quickly towards his home.
At this stage, the blaze was still 12km to the west and Jamie, his partner Anita Reeves and their 13-year-old son Taigan believed they would be able to fight the blaze and protect their home.
They turned on all the sprinklers and began hosing down their house to create a barrier but the ferocious wind propelled the fire towards Jamie's property within 20-minutes of their official warning.
Jamie was shocked to his core when he first laid eyes on the blaze.
"It was the scariest thing I have ever seen. I have dealt with heaps of fires throughout my life but I have never seen a fire like that," Jamie told the Argus.
"The wind was so strong that there was spot fires starting kilometres ahead of the fire front.
"I first spotted fire coming over the hill at the back of my property and then the fire spread across the 900m paddock in about 30 seconds.
"It was only burning grass that would have been a couple of inches long but it had about a 10-foot wall of flames just with the wind carrying it. It was the quickest I have ever seen anything happen, it was so overwhelming."
The wall of flames blew thick black smoke across Jamie's property, which restricted the family's ability to see more than a metre in front of them.
They attempted to save as many animals as they could but the intimidating size of the blaze made Anita realise she had to take Taigan and evacuate to safety.
"I saw the fire reaching the driveway and that's when I jumped in the car with Taigan and two of our dogs. Jamie told me he would follow me once there was nothing he could do to save the home," Anita said.
"By the time I got to the end of the driveway I could see the back of the house was on fire and I thought he would be right behind me.
"I got into Willawarrin and you could barely see a thing because of the smoke. I was frantic because I couldn't find Jamie and he wasn't answering his phone.
"I left Taigan with a friend and tried to drive back but they stopped me at the roadblock coming out of Willawarrin and I was screaming to go and check on him but they said sorry the fire is too destructive we can't get in there at the moment.
"I was thinking the worst had happened to him. It was the most terrible feeling imaginable."
Fortunately, Jamie did manage to reach Willawarrin safely, but he confessed he thought he was going to die.
"After Anita left, I was trying to fight the fire but as I was putting one spot fire out in front of me, one would start to the left, the right and behind me. There was fires all around me. The heat and the fear of not being able to escape is what got me to leave," he said.
"I felt like my blood was boiling inside me, I felt like my insides were going to explode and the heat was coming from every direction. I tried to extinguish as much of the house as I could but it was hopeless and I had to leave.
"As I was driving away, I could see in the mirror the entire house was on fire and everything in front of me was on fire too.
"Everything was engulfed in flames and I had to drive over the area where I thought the smallest flames were. Vision was another problem as I could barely see my bumper bar, I had to drive and hope I didn't run into anything and that I was going in the right direction."
As Jamie drove along his paddock, boiling from the inside, burning on the outside and flames surrounding his vehicle, he believed his time was up.
"I honestly didn't think I was getting out, I thought that was it for me but I thought I might as well have a try, there was no point just sitting there, curling up and giving up so I just went for it," Jamie said.
"I made it onto Armidale Rd but it was probably another kilometre where both sides of the road were on fire and with the wind the way it was, flames were gusting in front of the car. There are parts of the car where it has melted, it was unbelievably hot."
Jamie miraculously made it to Willawarrin and reunited with a relieved Anita and Taigan, but they weren't out of the woods yet as the fire was quickly closing in on the town.
Residents were encouraged to evacuate and Jamie wasn't taking any risks after already cheating death once.
"We went to Mungay Creek and we were there for about an hour before we moved into Yarravel for the safety of it. It would have been too distressing on my family if I stayed to fight and I couldn't put them through that again," Jamie said.
While the wind was still fierce, it dropped off as the fire approached Willawarrin and Jamie claims this prevented total destruction.
"If the conditions had of stayed the same when the fire got to Willawarrin, then the whole town would have been annihilated," he said.
"It was just a freak 15-minutes when the wind pushed the fire towards my house and we got obliterated.
"I have heard of fires causing all sorts of damage and I would think how couldn't they have fought that but I know why they couldn't now, because when it's conditions like that, there's nothing you can do."
Jamie and Anita made the heartbreaking return to their property on Saturday morning to discover the place they once called their home, where their children played in the yard and the place where they felt safest had been completely destroyed.
The couple only managed to save some animals, two cars and a camera, everything else was consumed by the unforgiving fire.
"We didn't get anything because I was thinking we were going to fight it. We spent that time preparing for a fight that we thought we would win," Anita said.
"We only have our camera because my son ran back into the burning house to get it off the bench. As you could imagine, I was screaming out his name telling him to come back and I couldn't see him because of the thick smoke but when he came back he said 'I grabbed this for you mum because I knew we have lots of photos on it'. It was really sweet but I was terrified."
While Jamie and Anita have been left with nothing, the two are thankful to still be alive and they have been overwhelmed by the support from loved ones and strangers.
"In hindsight, we all have each other and that's the saving grace of it all, that we all pulled through and survived," Jamie said.
"I have neighbours and friends who have lost their house too and it's time now that we show how resilient people up river are. We will build again and make this town better than ever.
"Over the last few years, I had been losing faith in humanity because of the things you read happening across the world and locally but since the fire, it has been unbelievable the amount of people who are wanting to give you something to help.
"Especially for the kids, people have given us clothes and toys and it's people who you aren't even friends with or haven't spoken to in years and they are reaching out and wanting to help and give in anyway possible. It really is an overwhelming and lovely feeling."
While standing next to the smokey ashes and debris they once called their home, the devastated family said they are fortunate they will still have a roof over their head at Jamie's mother home and they will begin rebuilding their lives from there.
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