Two separate fire emergencies unfolded, but what also emerged was a steely resolve by people to bounce back as soon as the threat had eased.

Started by lightning the Northern Grampians and Black Range fires raged in dry conditions after the region had sweltered through a week of oppressive heat.

Communities including Halls Gap, Lake Fyans and Lonsdale, Ledcourt and Pomonal were evacuated as the fires lead to the loss of property and livelihoods.

More than 54,000 hectares (ha) of land was burnt out along with three homes, 15 other residences and 18 sheds.

Three carports/pergolas, three businesses, one caravan, 10 ha of pasture/grazing, 33 kilometres of farm fencing, two tractors, and 16 ha of plantation timber were also impacted.

Far from being immune to the impacts of natural disasters, Northern Grampians Shire Council Municipal Recovery Manager Greg Little said an important part of the recovery process has been for communities to build resilience in the face of what has become a decade long battle for some to overcome adversity.

“For us the repetitive nature and cumulative effects of the natural disasters has been a real challenge to manage,” he said.

“I think in a lot of ways we are a more resilient community than we’ve ever been before, because we’ve had a lot of natural disasters since 2005 with fires, floods, landslides, locusts and droughts.

“We’ve probably come to accept it as part of our way of life which has given us a lot of strength.”

In the wake of the fire, the estimated direct income loss shared between 94 businesses, including the three which were directly damaged during the fires was $385,4400 with a further loss of stock to the value of $10,300.

Forty-eight accommodation businesses reported an impact on their bookings, three had to provide refunds and there were 52 cancellations.

Ten businesses reported they had to temporarily reduce staff work hours, affecting 22 employees.

Halls Gap Tourism treasurer Jeff Lovell said as a result of a comprehensive advertising campaign, visitors including international tourists had poured back into the Grampians.

“It was a fantastic recovery, it was important for us to be able to tell people: yes we had a fire, but yes there is still lots of things to do,” he said.

“We’ve been very happy with the work of Parks Victoria, they’ve been able to get everything back on track and offer the public all the things they could do before the fires.”

Mr Little said all tiers of government acted swiftly to change the perception that Halls Gap was closed for business when it wasn’t.

“For most people that perception disappeared pretty quick, but it was still a message that we had to sell and it was still about then improving the brand awareness that the Grampians was a great place to visit and I think we’ve done that fairly well,” he said.

“It was about capitalising on the Grampians as a natural environment and one of the beauties of a natural environment is that it has risks and that’s part of what the attraction is.”

Mr Lovell said the inaugural Denis Walter Carols in the Grampians event which was attended by about 2,000 people was a huge success and plans were already afoot to make it an annual event.

“We’re planning a couple of other new festivals, because when people come here they are not only here for the nature and the walking, they are looking for more than that.”

Mr Little said work to better prepare people for future events of a similar nature will need to be ongoing.

“We’ve still got to work towards building people’s preparations for future events,” he said.

“It’s important for us to acknowledge the 12 month mark, it’s an anniversary of something that hurt a lot of people.”

"Most of the infrastructure has been repaired, most of the community has moved on but there is still a lot of people who have rebuilding to do and lives to get back together and it's important for us to acknowledge both."