Avondale University College in Cooranbong provided emergency accommodation to people forced from their homes late at night by the bushfire at Charmhaven on New Year's Eve.
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Avondale's work, health and safety coordinator Doug Cloete said 16 adults, two children and a dog rested through the early hours of New Year's Day on beds in the Andre and Watson Hall residences.
"They were really thankful for the accommodation," Mr Cloete said.
He received a call from the NSW Department of Communities and Justice about half an hour before the evacuees arrived.
The evacuees were coming to the Lake Macquarie campus for processing in the Chan Shun Auditorium.
Following the closure of Morisset Country Club, the auditorium is now the evacuation centre during disasters in the district.
But finding temporary accommodation so early on a public holiday proved difficult, so Mr Cloete offered the evacuees guest rooms in the residences.
Two students working on campus over the Christmas break volunteered to make up the beds.
"We did what anyone else at Avondale would have done and that's to help those in need," Mr Cloete said.
Avondale also offered accommodation for a mother and daughter from the Batemans Bay area who was stranded in Lake Macquarie on January 3 because of the bushfires on the South Coast.
The university college remained available as an evacuation centre until the following day, January 4.
*Brenton Stacey is public relations officer for Avondale University College.