As fire danger loomed over the town of Moruya on the NSW south coast, Reverend Terence Corkin awoke in the dark.
He finished preparations to guard his home against fire, got into the car which had been packed for days, drove with his family to a friend's house and then returned to the local evacuation centre to minister to others.
Rev Corkin, 63, is among some 55 Uniting Church chaplains at 34 different evacuation centres and disaster assistance points for the state's bushfires.
Smoke turns the sky dark over Rev Corkin's property in Moruya. Source: Facebook/Terence Corkin
The minister, who moved to Moruya almost four years ago, put in seven days straight at the centre, which opened its doors to those in the Eurobodalla Shire - his own community - even as the fire risk threatened his own home.
Along with wife Julie and their daughter, Rev Corkin evacuated his home last Saturday, a six-acre property on the edge of town.
He then returned to the packed centre - serving some 4,000 meals across dinner and lunch - to look after other evacuees.
Rev Corkin fled danger with his wife Julie and their daughter, before serving some 4,000 meals to fellow evacuees. Source: Facebook/Terence Corkin
"There's that mind(set) - I can't be at my place and give myself any guarantees because of the hugeness of these fires, so I might as well go down swinging," Rev Corkin told AAP this week.
"I'm gonna go and fight this somehow to my best because at least I'm not being beaten ... I'm not going to let it have the last word."
While his plan had been to stay home and address ember attacks, the stories Rev Corkin heard while at the evacuation centre convinced him to leave.
"When someone tells you that a fireball ... (moved) through the air to hit something 100 metres away, I'm thinking that's just too dangerous," he said.
More than 180 homes have been lost in the fires which have swept through Eurobodalla, razing homes in nearby Mogo but sparing Moruya.
On Sunday, Rev Corkin conducted a church service and was then able to return home.
Smoke chokes the air on the NSW south coast. Source: Facebook/Terence Corkin
Rev Corkin spoke to a number of people in the centre whose homes had been lost to fire and said chaplains provide crucial emotional support.
"You meet people at their point of need, they set the agenda - I don't go in saying, 'now how can I get God into the conversation?'," Rev Corkin said.
However he said some people were asking "what is the foundation of my life if I lose everything?"
