“Fires just pop up out of nowhere.” Firefighters continue to battle after horror night for bushfires across NSW. Video / Nine News
It's the sentence Justin Cam never thought he would have to say.
"Everybody out, get in the car. The house is gone."
It was just after 4pm on Saturday afternoon, and the Balmoral local — along with wife Helena and 16-year-old son Gabriel — was fighting part of the GreenWattle Creek bushfire ripping through the tight-knit village in NSW's Southern Highlands.
Gabriel Cam hugs his mum Helena outside their fire-destroyed home. Photo / Rohan Kelly, News Corp Australia
The trio had prepared well. Their house was purpose built for bushfire defence and had already survived the 2013 fires.
They roared so loudly it was "like standing behind a 747 jet engine," Justin said.
Helena and Justin Cam survey the damage to their home. Photo / Rohan Kelly, News Corp Australia
The fires took out their generator, leaving them with no water, and burst through the kitchen and dining room before finally penetrating the house through the laundry.
"It was almost like a thinking fire, it had a mind of its own," Helena said.
They lost everything, making it out of their home of 20 years with only the clothes on their back.
Gabriel, who is about to start Year 11, said fighting to save his house alongside his parents was terrifying.
"Probably if anyone asked me what the scariest thing I could have gone through is, it is easily a bushfire," Gabriel told AAP.
The Cam family's burnt out house Photo / Rohan Kelly, News Corp Australia
"I've got 16 years worth of memories stored up in there, my whole life I've lived in there, and just all of it gone, just knowing that everything is burning down around you as you are fighting, it's very, very scary."
The hardest part for Justin, who works in forests, and Helena, who works in disaster response, is having to rely on the kindness of others.
"In this case there's so much devastation, we really don't know what to do," Helena said.
The family have spent the last two nights sleeping at the house of the Balmoral RFS chief, and this morning were given food and cups of tea at the Balmoral RFS station.
"People need to understand this is a very, very special community," Helena said.
The Cam family tried to save their home. Photo / Rohan Kelly, News Corp Australia
While the couple originally thought they would spent Christmas with friends, Helena said she now might want to spend the day just as a family.
"That will be Christmas and it will be extra special," she said.
"I had a bit of a meltdown today. You come out of it and you're scared and you say that, 'yeah we will rebuild, we'll fight' and you wake up and everything is gone," Helena said.
To grab a small piece of normality, Helena asked Gabriel to sing for her — some Christmas carols, and even a rendition of Midnight Oil's Beds Are Burning.
"We're all together, and that's the main thing," Gabriel said.
