Updated January 03, 2020 01:35:07

A New South Wales South Coast man has been hailed a "local hero" for ferrying stranded campers to safety on his boat, forced to watch as his own house burnt down.

While fleeing the approaching firestorm on Tuesday, Lake Conjola resident Brett Cripps, 51, noticed tourists stuck on the shore near their caravans.

"I knew I had to help. I yelled out, 'come on, you've got to get out of here'," Mr Cripps told the ABC.

He loaded two families onto his 5-metre boat, including seven children aged from three to 10, and whisked them away from the oncoming flames and to the centre of the lake.

Jillie Flaxman, her husband and four children, from New South Wales' Central Coast, were one of the families.

They were on a five-week holiday and settled along the bank of Lake Conjola.

The family were staying at a friends' property accompanied by Ms Flaxman's sister, her husband and three children.

On New Year's Eve, Mr Cripps' 75-year-old father was helping him pack the boat to evacuate when he spotted embers from the bush across the road jump and start a huge fire next to a row of five properties, including his.

On the other side was Ms Flaxman and her family.

At midday, Ms Flaxman said her family rapidly became engulfed by fire and were trapped.

"I could just see fire and smoke in front of us," she said.

"We [Ms Flaxman and her sister] loaded the seven kids into the separate caravans and tried to keep them calm."

She soon thought it was better for them to evacuate.

They had no form of communication with the outside world at that time.

"We loaded everything into the car, [we] were going to try and leave.

"I couldn't see my husband or brother-in-law, but I heard my brother-in-law yell out, 'Get the kids to the jetty!'"

That's when she heard Mr Cripps' voice coming from the water. He yelled: "Get the kids here!"

"We owe Brett our lives," Ms Flaxman said.

"He could have easily left us there, but he said he could hear our screams on the shore.

"[The boat] wasn't even close to the jetty. We we're literally chucking kids over the water into the boat."

For almost three hours, the group of seven children, seven adults and two dogs sat in a boat meant for six on the lake, as fire surrounded them on both banks.

As surrounding bushland was engulfed, Mr Cripps watched his own home of 50 years go up in flames.

On the boat, they used clothing to shield their mouths and noses from the smoke.

"We made sure the kids had tea towels covering their mouths and were drinking plenty of water on the boat," Ms Flaxman said.

"It was three hours of hell," Mr Cripps said.

"It was like an inferno; we were about 500 yards away on the water and could still feel the immense heat.

"We lost everything."

'Fifty years of memories gone. It's hard'

On the boat, Mr Cripps said he was amazed at how well the young kids were handling the situation.

"The children were amazing, so composed," he said.

"Their parents should be proud of them."

Everyone was in a state of shock but for Mr Cripps, the added blow of seeing his home on fire was hard to take.

"Fifty years of memories gone. It's hard," he said.

"My dad's car was incinerated. Mine was OK, but I'm going back to look for my car keys."

Like 'a war zone'

Ms Flaxman said locals were riding on jet skis and were in boats yelling out to anyone who needed their help New Year's Eve.

"Everyone pitched in and did what they could. The community spirit there is so strong."

The Lake Conjola community was left devastated this week when three bodies were found in the area as a result of the fires on the South Coast.

On Wednesday a 70-year-old man was also found dead outside a home west of Lake Conjola.

On New Year's Eve, convoys of cars were forced into the water to avoid fire along the lake.

Mr Cripps said the winds had been north-westerly that day before lunchtime, and he thought the fire was contained.

Then northerly winds intensified, as did the fire, which he said then "jumped over the Princes Highway towards west Conjola".

"We couldn't have fought it; nothing could have prepared us for this," he said.

"It was purely unbelievable."

Both of the young families and Mr Cripps' relatives made it back to shore safely.

He said other Lake Conjola community members also raced to help those stranded on the shoreline.

When Ms Flaxman and her family arrived safely to shore they were taken the nearest caravan park for assistance.

"We entered that caravan park like we had just come from a war zone."

Inside the refuge of the caravan park, she said the community welcomed them wholeheartedly.

"That afternoon I looked at my sister and said, 'I don't know how we're going to feed the kids'."

But locals offered them food and clothing and even a hamper to take.

Ms Flaxman and her family are currently on a loaded bus heading north to evacuate the South Coast.

"We're currently wearing other people's clothes at the moment but the main thing is we're all safe."

Topics: disasters-and-accidents, fires, community-and-society, emergency-incidents, lake-conjola-2539, nsw

First posted January 02, 2020 11:57:38