A 'wall of fire', as it was described by locals, ripped through the New South Wales town of Nymboida on November 8, destroying 85 homes.

Key points: Nymboida was among the worst-affected areas by last month's fires

Nymboida was among the worst-affected areas by last month's fires Fires have destroyed 125 homes in the Clarence Valley Council area since November 8

Fires have destroyed 125 homes in the Clarence Valley Council area since November 8 The council says the region's bushfire recovery could take years

A month on, the blacken landscape remains dotted with the rubble of the lost homes, with many sites still off limits and the long process to rebuild only in its infancy.

"We're waiting for the hazard teams to say places are actually safe to enter," local resident and donation coordinator Georgia Foster Eyles said.

"As soon as that happens, we can start sending people in to actually start cleaning up the mess."

Many homes contained asbestos or had solar panels and lead-acid batteries running off the grid systems, so the process of making fire sites safe is complex and time consuming.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 50 seconds 50 s Bushfire burns through the night in Nymboida

While a damage toll of 85 homes would be considered high in any circumstance, when you consider Nymboida's population is just 298, the devastation from these bushfires becomes more apparent.

There are few people in town who have not lost homes, sheds or livelihoods.

Georgia Foster Eyles (centre) has been one of the dedicated volunteers supporting bushfire affected residents at the Nymboida 'Helping Hub'. ( ABC Coffs Coast: Claudia Jambor )

Sorry, this audio has expired Communities banding together after bushfire crisis

Ms Forster-Eyles considers herself "blessed" that she did not lose her home, despite losing her source of income — her market garden.

Her work now is helping coordinate the floods of donations that are flowing into Nymboida; but she was worried not enough aid is getting out.

"Having contact when everybody is so spread all over the place is hard," she said.

"There's the Aussie battler thing of people really just wanting to just sort their own stuff out has made communication very limited."

Dubbed the Helping Hub, the Nymboida Camping and Canoeing centre has been the heart of the village's recovery — supplying donated food, tools, clothes, and essential information about where to find support.

"One of the really great things that we are seeing is the way that these small communities that have been affected by the fires are really coming forward and leading their own recovery," the NSW Government's Office of Emergency Management's recovery director, Wendy Graham, said.

"Nymboida is a great example of that."

'You don't recover in four weeks'

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 3 minutes 3 seconds 3 m 3 s Nymboida locals react to devastating bushfire

Justine Dodds has taken steps to return to Nymboida after living an hour away from the village since the fire.

She bought a caravan, which she plans to move into in early next year, but for now, it will stay at a friend's property.

A shed was all that remains standing after the fire razed Laena Stephenson's land.

It was supposed to be her husband Dave's man cave, now the shed has become temporary home.

"We really are some of the lucky ones to be able to get back in our home on the hill within a month is more than most people can ask for," she said.

Ms Stephenson said some residents are living in hotels, others with friends in the village or in rental accommodation in surrounding towns.

"You don't recover in four weeks," she said.

"People are still finding their feet, people are still figuring out what they're going to do."

Leana Stephenson and her husband Dave have converted a shed, which was saved in the fire, into their temporary home at Nymboida. ( ABC Coffs Coast: Claudia Jambor )

Uncertain future for displaced residents

But for Sophie Ramos, Grafton will be home for a long time.

Before the fire, the Ramos family had free range chickens and grew organic herbs, fruits and vegetables at their Nymboida property that they sold at their Grafton-based wholefoods shop.

"We've registered for all the help that's available, which is what you need to do," Ms Ramos said.

"We're taking the steps but it will be a while."

Sophie Ramos (right) and her daughter, Emmanuelle are trying to stay positive as they keep their business in Grafton going while trying to rebuild their property at Nymboida. ( ABC Coffs Coast: Claudia Jambor )

The family of six stayed at the store for a week until they were able to secure a rental in town.

In the days after the fire, Ms Ramos continued to deliver online food deliveries and reopened her store.

"This is just survival. I can't close my doors financially [and] I can't psychologically either," she said.

"I've got to keep [the store] going."

Landowners have begun to restore their farms with a Blazeaid camp to set up soon to help repair fences.

Leith Towns — a farmer who has lived in Nymboida for 71 years — said "it's going to be a bloody, long hard job".

"All our logging gear got burnt, so that stopped that and the cattles' not in any condition because of the drought to sell anything," Mr Towns said.

"You're in between a rock and a hard place."

Nymboida farmer Leith Towns says it will be a long road to recovery for the region's farming sector. ( ABC Coffs Coast: Claudia Jambor )

'We don't need your pity'

Looking forward, Ms Stephenson, who has also been assisting at the canoe centre, implored people to ask what bushfire-affected communities like Nymboida need during recovery.

"We don't need pity, and we don't need truckloads of clothes and we don't need your junk," she said.

While most donations have been very useful, she said some have contained out-of-date food, cosmetics and rags that are useless to the community.

As Christmas approaches, there are concerns business and government shutdowns over the holidays may stall recovery efforts.

"Frustration is building," Gray Stride, director of Nymboida Camping and Canoeing said.

"People have to be aware things are going to come to a grinding halt for four weeks and there's nothing we can do about it."

But Ms Graham said disaster relief, such as accommodation and health services, would continue, but rebuilding work may be delayed.

The Clarence Valley Council said patience is needed as it continues to respond to active fires.

"It will take years for a full recovery," Des Schroder, director of environment and planning.

"You're not going to replace houses tomorrow."