The Dunwich community has been rocked by Saturday's robbery and burning of its post office and the bashing of the postmistress.
There was a subdued atmosphere around the small North Stradbroke Island township on Saturday morning after a frantic night for local firefighters and police.
The Welsby Street post office and adjoining home of postal operators Brian and Hetty Conlon was in ruins not far from the town's main shops.
The street was closed off with police crime tape as local members of the auxiliary fire brigade waited for fire investigators from the mainland to arrive.
Locals wandered up to the scene looking bewildered.
It seemed people had an idea who was responsible and some were keen to air their views on what should be done and the general state of crime in the area.
Throughout the day, there was steady flow of arrivals from the barge and ferries, many likely to be unaware of what happened in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The night's drama had special significance for the local volunteer firefighters because it was one of their own who was the victim of one of the fires.
Brian Conlon, post office operator and on-call firefighter was summoned out of his bed around 2.45am to respond to a fire alarm at the nearby Dunwich High School.
When the crews from Dunwich and Point Lookout arrived at the scene they found a part of the bush alight near the school and a fire in the school library. It seemed the fire had started when a lit petrol filled bottle was thrown threw the window, but this didn't take hold and burned out on the carpet.
While the crews we there, they received a call that the post office, less than a kilometre up the road, was on fire.
Exactly what Brian Conlon saw when he arrived at the fire with the crews, we don't know as yet. He's busy caring for his wife who was punched by one of the intruders and left in the building they set alight after they forced her to open the post office safe.
In the days ahead while the police are continuing their investigations, the Dunwich community will undoubtedly rally around the Conlons and work to rebuild their post office and their lives.
