Bushfire loss at Dargan is still raw, more than two years later

The street full of new homes could be mistaken for a booming estate to those unaware of the events that took place two and a half years ago.

The regenerating trees are the only remaining evidence of the devastation the community faced from the Gosper's Mountain bushfire in December 2019.

It was just days before Christmas when eight homes on the road where destroyed in what has been described as a 'giant fire ball' by resident, Susan Alexander.

Along with her husband Nick, Susan bought their Dargan house in 2001 and said she "never wanted to build a house, so when we saw the house it was just the vibe".

The young family spent just shy of two decades making the house their home. In the months leading up to fire, the family had been completing renovations.

"Six months before the fire, we had finished our new kitchen. Three months before the fire we had finished most of the laundry."

Susan talks about the fire as if it had only happened yesterday.

"Two and a half years on. We've rebuilt. It's still a very raw feeling it feels like yesterday. It hasn't really stopped being raw. It never has," she said.

"People think 'oh, well, you know, you've moved on, COVID came through, now you've got a beautiful house, you're fine.' You're not. Because your memories, and the things that you can't get back are always there."

The family lost irreplaceable sentimental items in the fire; including the blanket Susan brought her daughter home in. It was the same blanket that Susan was brought home in by her mother.

"All the frustration and the anger and the grief and just overwhelming sadness, not for material things," she said.

The mental toll of such a traumatic experience is still impacting the family.

"PTSD is a real thing, and we all have it differently, she said.

It is a vivid recurring nightmare that has haunted Susan over a course of the past two and a half years.

"I still have dreams of my lounge burning around me in my lounge room," she said.

"I can see it like it's clear as day. I see everything that was burning that I loved. I wasn't even here.

"But those nightmares hit me for a long time, and they still come back."

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Susan said the family are now better prepared for a bushfire, if it comes to pass.

"When the next fire comes through, and it will, I don't have a doubt, I think we are far more planned," she said.

"We're so clear. I always joke and say that NASA can see us now."

The family are beginning to settle into their new home, but know it will never be the same.

The communities of Clarence and Dargan suffered the most property loss in the Lithgow LGA during the 2019 Gospers Mountain bushfire.

Since then, the community have formed the Association Of Bell, Clarence and Dargan Inc. which aims to promote resilience within the united communities.