David Nicholls thought he was about to die, cowering in a drain clutching his wedding album as the firestorm thundered over him.
The Narbethong man made a desperate farewell call to his mother from inside the culvert after crashing his pickup truck while trying to escape the ferocious flames searing the township on Saturday.
He couldn't bring himself to speak to his wife.
"I don't know how long it was (in the culvert), but it felt like hours," he said.
"My wife and my boy was all I thought about, hoping I get to see them again."
"I didn't think I was going to get through.
"Very scary, I don't ever want to do it again, ever."
David, 40, was barely able to stand when he emerged from the culvert under the Maroondah Highway. His vehicle was a charred wreck but his wedding photos were intact.
The album was all he took from his family home as the blaze closed in, wiping out most of his street and killing nine local people.
David had evacuated his wife Nicole and their four-year-old son Lachlan to his mother's place at Healesville and had planned to defend their home, but the fire was too fast and the heat too intense.
By the time he got in the F100 to flee, the back of the vehicle caught fire as flames swept down the road.
David stopped to help an elderly woman but she was too terrified and confused to get in the truck.
Her body was later found by the side of the road.
David, a Country Fire Authority (CFA) volunteer, only made it about 2km when he smashed into a tree.
Panicked, his survival instincts kicked in.
"I just had to try and find something to hide in. There's no way I could have stayed in that (car)."
The culvert was his only hope.
Despite his terrifying ordeal, David was behind the wheel of a CFA tanker minutes after his miraculous escape and worked until 4am (AEDT) trying to save other peoples' homes.
He then drove to Healesville for an emotional reunion with his parents and set to work defending their home from fire.
Five days later, David was still fighting the fires that almost claimed his life.
"I came out wearing a pair of shorts and my fire brigade uniform," David said clutching his album.
"I've got my family that's all that matters."
