More than 200 people, including RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons, attended a moving ceremony last Friday morning at Springwood's Buckland Park to mark the one-year anniversary of the Blue Mountains bushfires.
Blue Mountains mayor Mark Greenhill said the purpose was not to recap the horror of almost 200 homes being destroyed, but to formally acknowledge the impact of the loss of these homes, thank the many organisations and individuals who aided the recovery effort and honour the community's resilience.
"I look at this one-year anniversary not as the end of a journey but rather as a milestone in that journey," Clr Greenhill said.
"What I wish for most, for those residents who have experienced loss, is for them to see the possibility of every day being the beginning of the future.
"I am humbled to live in a community, a nation, in which the number of contributors [to the recovery process] is too great to list by name."
NSW police and emergency services minister Stuart Ayres said nature continually tests us, but each time makes us stronger.
"It asks us to find ourselves in our communities," he said.
Member for Macquarie Louise Markus said what she saw during and since the bushfires is "a community that dug incredibly deep for one another".
"My hope is that everyone who has been impacted directly or indirectly may find peace in their hearts," Mrs Markus said.
"I believe the best days are ahead for the Blue Mountains."
Anne Crestani, manager of the Step by Step Blue Mountains Bushfire Support Service, paid tribute to the strength shown by people whose homes were destroyed or damaged.
"In our [observations] it's often been the strength to live with frustration," she said.
"We've often asked people how they've been able to do that and we would always be provided with the same answer: determination, perseverance and a wicked sense of humour."
Special guest Blue Mountains Citizen of the Year Serge Rosato - the principal of St Thomas Aquinas Primary School who calmly led his students to the safety of Winmalee shops while finding out his own home was in flames - said: "I, like others, continue to gain strength from this community.
"This strength will in time allow us all to move forward from desolation to new beginnings with assurance that what is being rebuilt isn't simply bricks, wood and mortar but life within a community that continues to support and look out for its neighbour.
"We continue to pray for those affected," Mr Rosato said.
"And we give thanks to the various civic leaders, emergency services, support agencies, government and individuals who continue to serve our community for the common good."
Mayor Greenhill said it was council's intention to have a bushfire disaster place of remembrance.