THIRTY years after the Ash Wednesday bushfires in South Australia, some of the survivors are still suffering.
For many of the children in particular the disaster remains "imprinted" on them, trauma expert Sandy McFarlane says.
About a third still have quite enduring fears over what they went through.
Some have experienced a severe weather phobia and have been terrified at times of extreme winds.
The tragedy has also impacted their lives in more subtle ways. They have been more likely to marry early and have children young and less likely to complete tertiary education.
"It's almost like that sort of an event becomes a lens through which they look at the rest of their life," Professor McFarlane told AAP on Wednesday.
"This brush with catastrophe made them feel like they had to get on with their life."
Saturday marks the 30th anniversary of one of SA's darkest days when 28 people lost their lives in a series of fires across the Adelaide Hills and in the state's southeast.
Almost 400 homes were destroyed and more than 200,000 hectares blackened, the disaster made worse by poor communications between emergency services and the extreme weather conditions which left the fires raging out of control.
Prof McFarlane, now the director for the Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies at the University of Adelaide, was the first academic to consult with those affected by the tragedy.
Just one week after the fires, he began working with the first of 300 people who he continued to treat over the following seven years.
He has also tracked the progress of children caught up in the disaster over the past three decades.
His work and findings have aided in the diagnosis, treatment and understanding of many people suffering with post traumatic stress.
Prof McFarlane said studying the survivors of Ash Wednesday had raised the awareness of the complexities involved.
For many the highest levels of stress were often felt some time later and not immediately after the events as might be expected.
"Often the most difficult time is after these people have rebuilt," he said.
"It's when they've got through the practical stages and are trying to return to a normal life."
Following such a large group of people over such a length of time had also revealed how other tragedies, such as car crashes or family violence could impact on the lives of those who lived through Ash Wednesday or other major events.
Sometimes disaster-affected communities were even more badly affected by the subsequent adversity.
"Just think how many people get killed in motor vehicle accidents in a year," Prof McFarlane said.
"Many more than ever get killed in disasters but the victims never get the same attention."
For the wider community, Prof McFarlane said it was important for people to look back at what happened on Ash Wednesday and remember what mistakes were made to ensure they were not repeated.
He said the Black Saturday fires in Victoria in 2009, when 173 people died, were an example of how people did forget and what the cost of that could be.
"The real issue about events that occur infrequently in the community is how to maintain our preparedness and how to maintain our memory of the lessons," Prof McFarlane said.
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