Over the last week you could be forgiven for thinking that NSW was facing the apocalypse.

A State Of Emergency has been declared, there are numerous fires burning out of control, hundreds of families have lost their home, one man is dead, the suburbs of Sydney are covered in a blanket of smoke, and we are told the worst is yet to come.

As always a situation like this brings out the best and the worst in people.

The best of the best has been the extraordinary efforts of or firefighters and our emergency services crews, who as per usual have gone well past the point of merely doing their duty and have consistently exceeded all expectations.

It is not just the men and women in our emergency services crews either. Backing them up are some remarkable teams of volunteers that can be found both behind the scenes supporting emergency…