Jamey, Mr Dutkiewicz's eldest brother was staying at their family home in Duffy when the 2003 bushfires hit, a day that Mr Dutkiewicz will never forget.

He was a volunteer firefighter with the Rivers Bushfire Brigade and had been fighting a fire for two weeks before the January 18 fire came.

"It was a truly awful day," Mr Dutkiewicz remembers. "In all my experience and training, I had never seen or heard about fires like it."

While Mr Dutkiewicz, 25 at the time, was battling the fires and saving a woman at her Uriarra farm with his colleagues, the flames were closing in on his family home in Duffy where his brother was staying.

Their family home, where Mr Dutkiewicz lived with parents Richard and Carol and younger brother Nathan was destroyed.

Fifteen years on, Mr Dutkiewicz speaks vividly about the events that changed his life.

"The fires will live with me for the rest of my life," Mr Dutkiewicz said.

"I think anyone who faces a situation where your life is truly in danger would feel the same about the event."

While he and his team were being ambushed by fire, Mr Dutkiewicz tried to coordinate what was happening on the ground infront of him as he feared for the life of his brother and their home.

"During the time that the truck I was on was being overrun by fire, I had conversations with Jamey and he said the back shed was on fire and there were lots of homes around our home on fire and then lost touch with him for several hours," he said

"His fiancé at the time called me to say that she also couldn't find him. It was overwhelming."

"I really wanted to be at home to help but we were trapped."

Thankfully, Jamey was safe.

He had tried to save the home, but was forced to flee.

Mr Dutkiewicz managed to reach his parents who were on the south coast at the time.

"They obviously wanted to come home when the skies turned black from the smoke of the fires at Malua Bay where they were."

The extent of the devastation in Duffy wouldn't be known to the Dutkiewicz family until the next day.

"One of the crew on my truck had been injured so I travelled with him in the helicopter to Canberra hospital and once in the helicopter I became aware of my injuries and ended up in hospital myself."

After being discharged, he joined his parents and brothers as they headed to Duffy.

"As we travelled from Tuggeranong to Weston creek it became a sadder and sadder story," Mr Dutkiewicz said.

"Despite having been in the bushfire brigade for more than 10 years at that time, I had never witnessed such devastation."

Their street was decimated. The house was burnt to the ground.

"We dug about to see if anything could be found in the ashes of our house but there was only fine ash."

After being made homeless, the cost of rebuilding was too much for the Dutkiewicz, so his parents retired to the south coast, and after spending some time away Mr Dutkiewicz moved back to Weston Creek in 2010.

"I have lots of fond memories of growing up in Weston Creek and horrible memories of that day in 2003,"

"While life goes on, an experience like what all Canberran's went through on that day will live with me forever."

The experience of watching his parents lose their home, and losing all his possessions forced him to grow up "very quickly".

"Having to rebuild your life from the ground up requires decision making like you've never experienced decision making before,"

"From absolute essentials in the days after the fires to getting back to work and then working out what's next.

"One step forward and six steps back was a common practice for a long time after the fires."

He learnt the values of possessions and importance of home.

"When you lose everything it gives you a unique insight to what is important...possessions can be replaced but family and friends can't.

"The value of communities, friendship and families, in a world where in life it is far too easy to get caught up in material possessions and being self-sufficient, when you lose everything you truly understand the importance of those around you."