LAST week's fires were an all-too-familiar situation to many affected residents of the towns.
They came up in similar places to the bushfires experienced in 2009, with many of the same properties again threatened.
Dealing with bushfires is sometimes an annual occurrence, with every summer bringing the possibility of an incident.
However the familiarity of the situation means many people were prepared with a bushfire plan, emergency measures and a place to go to if evacuation was necessary.
This is no doubt as much due to previous experiences as to campaigns that have been in place for some years, encouraging people to take responsibility and come up with a plan in the event of a bushfire.
Many locals last week took the situation in their stride, which helped emergency services to focus on dealing with the fires.
Situations such as these are always a reminder that some of the bravest people among us are those men and women who voluntarily go out to fight the fires, putting their lives on the line to keep communities safe.
These are the real heroes in our communities.
Every summer we owe them our lives.