Tin, I remember those scenes and the smell very well. I helped fight back a bushfire from my wife's uncle's place in the Blue Mountains in 2001 and from a friend's house in the Shoalhaven area of NSW in 2004. Good luck!
It's hard to imagine the horror from here in NZ, with the toll now at 178 and expected to
rise above 300. I have a son in Victoria, well away from the fires thank God.
Stay safe.