A Colo Heights family has made "ash angels" in the charred remains of their yard as a grateful thank you to local firefighters for saving their home.
Dad Stewart and 11-year-old Hunter Hayne, recorded by mum Julie, sent a video to Colo Heights Rural Fire Brigade after returning to their property on November 22 to find their house still standing amid the burned-out yard.
The family had evacuated nine days earlier, staying with friends in a Kurmond granny flat with their 16 show border collies and kelpies.
"Thank you so much for the RFS for saving our property," Mr Hayne said in the video. "You are the angels, we are not, but we are going to be the new ash angels.
"You poor bastards did the hardest job ever and we appreciate everything you did. Thank you so much."
Hunter, who plays with Freemans Reach U11s cricket side and the North West Magpies, chimed in with a confident "thank you RFS" before joining his dad on the ground to make an ash angel; a bit like a snow angel, minus the cold stuff.
"We were trying to think of something to do to say thank you. My husband said, 'can you google if there are any ash angels, I know there are snow angels'," Mrs Hayne told the Gazette.
"I think it's just amazing, it's just a great job the RFS do.
"We have quite a lot of dogs and we had to get them out, and we wanted to get out of everyone's way. We left before the really dangerous part came because it would have been terrifying to stay.
"The fire came within 30 metres of my husband's shed, most of the property is burned but just not around the house. Some of it is back-burning, some of it is fire.
"You can see where the flames went to the top of the trees."
