My husband and I have run the popular Fraga's Cafe in the centre of Marysville for the last 10 years.  In the Black Saturday Bushfires, our premises was so severely damaged that is had to be rebuilt and totally refitted.  In addition, our home burnt to the ground and our investment was also completely razed.  My parent' house was also gone, along with the majority of buildings in our small tourist town.  

The most devastating of all was the tragic deaths of two of our trusted staff members on that day as well as several of our friends and neighbours.  All this weeks after I had given birth to our second child (she's 2 now and what an interesting life she has had!).

Immediately in the aftermath of the fires we stayed with friends in a safe town nearby.  Following that we were locked out of Marysville along with most residents for six weeks while the Army and police took charge of our charred, ashen streets.  Once the Royal Commission declared that the town was no longer a crime scene, we were allowed back in to begin the clean up process.

First, we salvaged what few items we could from the cafe including signage - this proved to be very important for some local people as it provided something familiar in a world that had entirely changed.  We then looked at operating from another premises and ended up working out of market tents wherever we were required to be.  Needless to say this did not turn a profit, but helped us to feel we were doing something and helped the community feel like there was hope that businesses would return to Marysville (which they have done and continue to do!).

My husband helped to set up a marquee in the main street and spent four winter months (including one ski season) cooking on a BBQ and making takeaway coffees for cleanup workers, locals and tourists.  Believe me, they will keep coming!  We then had our cafe building restored and refitted it in order to move back in which we did in September 2009.

The reopening of the cafe was a very emotional time for locals as you can imagine.  The cafe is still operating and although we are still not at the level of business that we were pre-disaster, we are ticking along.  Throughout all this we lived in a prefab tin shed while we rebuilt our house, and I am pleased to say we moved in at Christmas!  

At the time of the disaster a friend of mine told me that it would be at least 18 months before we would have our homes again. I didn't believe her at the time but I now know that it will be probably be another 2 to 3 years before our town is truly back to 'normal'.  Although we are in our house and our cafe is back up and running, we still have a long way to go.  Clean up is a slow and frustrating process, but it does happen.  

My message to those facing disaster is to keep going and accept offers of help - especially with lifting and moving heavy items!  Many folk wanted to help but didn't know how.  In hindsight i would tell them specifically what it is you need and when they can assist.  

The other difficulty we faced was the ongoing questions from visitors about where you were on the day of the fire, etc.  My husband finds that yes/no answers are the best deterrent to dealing with intrusive questions you might not want to answer.  I have made a large scrapbook that staff can direct curious parties to if they feel pressured to talk about it.  All staff need say is "Have you seen our scrap book?" and lead them away before making a swift exit!!

All in all it is a long road and we have to rely on each other.  Although our business may never be the same as it was, my husband was determined from the start to rebuild it and make a go of it again.  He has never lost that determination which is why we are still here today.  We provide work for a team of eight, a place for the community to meet and a reason for tourists to visit and revisit.  

To all those currently facing the worst, please look after yourselves and take time out periodically.  I hope our story can provide some hope and encouragement whatever you decide to do.