IT was the night before Christmas, and all through the community of Warragamba an eerie silence descended as the skyline, heavy with ash, glowed in anticipation.
Little did the people who were gathering for midnight Mass imagine that by the following afternoon they would be fighting to save their homes and livelihoods.
The residents of the small rural community, west of Sydney, will never forget Black Christmas 2001.
But as well as the loss and destruction, they will also remember how their neighbours and complete strangers came to their aid when the bushfires tore a swathe through their town.
Out of the ashes, the real spirit of Christmas has emerged in Warragamba and other communities around NSW which have borne the brunt of the bushfires.
