A Victorian cattle farmer fears Australia's bushfire disaster — and the threat of more to come — will drive people out of his community.

Key points: A Victorian farmer whose property became a hub for bushfire recovery efforts says he's worried residents won't return to fire-affected areas

A Victorian farmer whose property became a hub for bushfire recovery efforts says he's worried residents won't return to fire-affected areas Peter Sutherland and his wife helped distribute donated goods and witnessed the depth of trauma in the Upper Murray

Peter Sutherland and his wife helped distribute donated goods and witnessed the depth of trauma in the Upper Murray A resident in a nearby town, however, believes her community can bounce back, though numbers may drop in the short-term

There were no end-of-year celebrations to be had in the New South Wales border town of Jingellic or its Upper Murray surrounds as lightning strikes sparked a blaze that charred an estimated 226,000 hectares of land.

The fire claimed livestock, homes and sheds, and turned fences into rows of blackened matchsticks — and, according to grazier Peter Sutherland, it has left fear in its wake.

"People are just not around [like they once were]," he said.

"I can see it now — other people are going to leave us too … I'm afraid for rural Australia."

This monument in Thologolong was erected in 1991 and pays tribute to the region where Murray Grey cattle were first bred more than 100 years ago. ( ABC Goulburn Murray: Anna Chisholm )

'Something special' amid the trauma

Mr Sutherland and his wife Gina live in Thologolong, Victoria, half an hour west of Jingellic.

To their amazement their property was unscathed, and in the days after the fire it became a drop-off point for donations of everything from generators to mangoes.

Ms Sutherland marvelled at the generosity of those who pitched in.

"In the middle of a fire, to be able to eat a mango is something very special," she said.

Mr Sutherland said he was involved in the first hay delivery to nearby Tintaldra, and watched a farmer hauling dead cattle off the roadway so the cargo could be unloaded.

"That's how traumatic it was," Mr Sutherland said.

"He just kept going till he nearly dropped."

Allison Watson said the club is taking a break from playing this year. ( ABC Goulburn Murray: Anna Chisholm )

Sports club takes a break

Eleven kilometres south of Jingellic in Walwa, Victoria, Allison Watson said she was confident the area's core farming families would stay, although some residents may leave due to a reduction in farming employment.

Ms Watson, who is the secretary of the Border-Walwa Football netball Club, said the coming months of refencing and rebuilding meant the club would not operate in 2020.

"We can't justify asking people to put more time and more effort into something when they're already struggling hugely with what they've got on their plate," she said.

She said it was a shame the club was unable to play this season, as footy and netball would have been a great way for the fire-impacted community to bond.

Ms Watson managed to defend her home from the flames, "but lost everything around it".

Regrowth outside of Jingellic started to appear weeks after the devasting bushfires burned in the region. ( ABC Goulburn Murray: Anna Chisholm )

Stay or go?

University of Melbourne Professor Lisa Gibbs said some people would choose, for various reasons, to relocate following a fire, but some would stay.

Dr Gibbs is familiar with the longer-term impacts of fire and conducted research into the 2009 Black Saturday disaster that killed 173 people in Victoria.

She said those most likely to consider moving were people who lost property, but moving away was a "really emotional process".

Dr Gibbs said her study found that some people moved because they "just don't feel safe anymore".

Sometimes, Dr Gibbs said, the choice to move was made for practical reasons, like fewer businesses and consequently less employment in a region or fewer properties to rent.

Dr Gibbs said those who decided to stay enjoyed the benefit of being connected to a community and the "shared processing" of what they had all experienced.

She said people could be extraordinarily resilient and had an "incredible capacity to adapt to quite severe challenges and traumas".