When The Newcastle Herald photographer Jonathan Carroll pulled up at Doyalson North on Thursday night, fires were surging through Lake Munmorah.

He joined a crew of five Rural Fire Service volunteers who headed north to Catherine Hill Bay. Within minutes, Carroll thought he was going to die. Yet, as he explains, the team around him had other ideas.

''Within minutes of getting in the truck we were surrounded by walls of orange flames on both sides of the road,'' he said.

''Someone yelled out 'masks on' and they gave me a mask. Then someone yelled 'get your helmets on', then 'get those blankets ready', then 'get under those blankets' as the flames and embers shot across the highway.

''I was petrified. I thought I was going to die and was considering calling my wife and asking her to put my boys on the phone for one last time. Then one of the team pointed to the bloke in the front passenger seat and said, 'See this guy? I'd follow this guy into hell.'

''Another pulled out the fireman's prayer before someone said, 'Put that away, it's an admission of defeat.'

''We arrived at the fire ground. They pumped themselves up, final instructions were issued and someone yelled 'lock and load'.

'''Right. We're in front of the fire, but we are also surrounded by it so we're going to have to stop it', one of them said. Off they went in a militaristic fashion.''

Fairfax Media