"I've cried and I will cry more probably, but we're here, we're alive, and that's the main thing."
Helen Alexander knows her Yarloop home is still standing after a bushfire tore through the township, south of Perth, but she holds little hope that the house is still liveable.
The 67-year-old told AAP on Friday that she was reluctant to leave but decided that seeing the devastation of the nearby blaze in Waroona on Wednesday night was "horrific enough" and she had to get out by Thursday morning.
Ms Alexander fled with her husband, their daughter and 13-year-old granddaughter.
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"It was devastating to look back and see all that smoke," she said.
"It's a memory that will stay with me for a long, long time."
Holding back tears, Ms Alexander said she only had time to grab some clothes, photos and passports.
"What do you take and what do you leave?" she said.
"But material things are replaceable ... The best photos are your memories."
The family is now staying at a friend's home in Eaton and Ms Alexander said the community spirit had been vital.
"Those firies are amazing ... they deserve more than a bloody medal," she said.
Authorities say the town, which has a population of 545, has lost about 95 homes, historic buildings, workshops, factories, the post office, a fire station and part of a local school.
Phil Stanton was the caretaker at the workshops and said his home was also wiped out.
"Its bloody completely disappeared. It's just a cloud of ash," he said.
The 73-year-old had stayed in town to help fire crews fill up tanks, but left just in time and is now staying with his niece in Australind.
"I have insurance but I don't know what I'm going to do," he said.
Kate Barry told AAP she lost her home in the blaze, but had no idea how bad the bushfire was until a local firefighter told her she had to evacuate.
She and her four children, aged between six and 19, managed to flee with their family photos, but everything else was probably destroyed when the home was razed.
"There were no flames, just smoke. You couldn't breathe, it was just raining ash," she said.
Carolyn Foeken told AAP she had to bolt from Cookenup to Busselton with her two grandsons.
"We don't know if we've got a home or not," she said.
"I just packed a case and threw their clothes in a bag and left."
