The Vietnam veteran, chaplain and former church pastor has counselled countless returned service personnel over the years.

He is also a coordinator with BlazeAid, the organisation that brings together hundreds of volunteers to help communities recover from the destruction of fires, floods and cyclones.

He spent six months coordinating volunteers at Coonabarabran after the devastating Wambelong fire of 2013, and he’s now at Dunedoo to help victims of the Sir Ivan fire.

He expects the clean-up and replacement of fencing – BlazeAid’s primary function – will take at least six months this time.

“This is the same size, the same sort of fire but in an utterly different location,” Mr Dawson said.

“Up there was predominantly in national park, but here it’s productive farmland.

“Far more people affected here, and far more damage to infrastructure.”

By Friday morning, 18 properties had registered for repairs with Mr Dawson, while his counterpart at Cassilis had registered 15.

But there were “tonnes more” to come. And as more landholders come forward, Mr Dawson said the “full gamut of human emotion” will be on display.

Because every individual is different, every individual approaches the situation differently,” he said.

“Some people are depressed, some are beaten and defeated and some are upbeat and positive.”

Regardless of individual reactions, though, Mr Dawson said the work of volunteers would help to heal the people of the Warrumbungle Shire.

“The more practical help we can give people, the better their psychological state will be,” he said.

“I always say the land heals very quickly. The people don’t heal so quickly. But by doing positive things to get people up and going again you’re lifting their spirits.

“Sometimes putting in a fence line helps more than hours of counselling.”

For more information about BlazeAid, or to contribute to the recovery effort, go to www.blazeaid.com