The Bicenntenial Drive house he, his wife Kellie and two children had called home for 20 years was completely gutted by the fire.

He told reporters at the time that he wasn't concerned about the house, he was just glad everyone was safe. It was the possessions inside that meant the most to him, the sentimental items like wedding and baby photos.

"We've got some photos out which was fantastic and all the other stuff is materialistic. As I said in the interview at the time, as long as we can get those things out, that's all that really matters," he said.

"The rest can be rebuilt and rebought; those things can't be replaced."

In the days following the fire a simple call out on Facebook saw the donations come flooding in. Community members provided the family with beds, sofas, a tv, clothes, toys and ipods.

Mr Osmialowski, co-owner of Googong's Yellow Belly Cafe, said he was astounded at the community's generosity and the sheer number of donations they received, estimated to be around the $10,000 mark.

"[It was] unbelievable; it's just overwhelming and amazing the generosity of people. My fitness group gave us $3,000. You just don't know what to say," he said.

"The response has been amazing. The donations and well-wishers- it's been amazing.

"I want to thank everybody - family, friends, people I don't even know; everyone who has jumped onboard and helped us out. If we'd had nobody, we'd be in a bit of trouble.

"I was blown away. We had things coming in from everywhere."

A fault in the second fridge out the back of the house has been determined as the cause of the fire.

Mr Osmialowski's 12-year-old son was the only one home at the time of the blaze, but couldn't call emergency services as phone lines were down.

His son tried to put the fire out himself, with the help of two Queanbeyan council workers who were in the area, but it spread too quickly.

"It's a surreal feeling, you wake up the next morning and still there's disbelief. It's the smallest things: you don't have a toothbrush. Just little things like that," he said.

"It took us a good week to adjust to what had happened and the worst part is no one's around to tell you what to do.

"You don't know where to go, what to do, what you're allowed to touch and what you can take out or not take out.

"Not knowing what to do was the hardest thing, I think."

The family is currently renting a house in Jerrabomberra while they work out their next steps. They plan to rebuild their family home in Jerrabomberra even though many have been asking if they would consider moving to Googong where John works.

Faced with the mammoth task of rebuilding their home, Mr Osmialowski said it's an opportunity to modernise the house.

"We moved here in 1994. There were just three houses passed us when we moved in, that was it," he recalled.

"Depending on the insurance company, the first thing will be to knock down and rebuild. We'll see what happens.

"Times have changed. Twenty years in housing's been a lot different to when we bought this, so there'll be a few changes."

"At the end of the day, it was our family home and it will be again. The family's here and the house will be rebuilt. It's just a house," he said.

Reflecting on the events of the past two months, this eternal optimist can't help but be positive.

"It's been an experience that's been good and bad I suppose. You see what people do in a situation, an emergency like this - they help," he said.

"It makes you realise how many people care. And unfortunately it takes something like this to realise that."