The Gerogery mum has always been a big Christmas person and was building up to the festivities with a fun family holiday in the Sunshine State.

"We were three days into our 10 days there, and we got a call from my brother," she said.

"He was at my mum's house, she used to live just down the road, and he said 'there's a fire at Walla'.

"We decided to go back to our motel and see what was happening.

"That was probably a 15-minute drive and by the time we got there, our house was gone."

Within an hour from jumping a firebreak at the Walla tip, the furious inferno driven by a hot north-westerly had covered 11 kilometres to reach the Gerogery township.

Only a wind change and a divine downpour stopped the blaze from going any further.

But it had taken its toll, destroying some 5200 hectares, 1178 livestock, 17 outbuildings and four homes including Ms Weber's.

The Gerogery that Ms Weber knew was gone.

"Driving into the town and seeing what was there ... you wouldn't wish it on anybody," she said.

"You watch the people going through it now [in NSW] and the things they're saying, you can relate to.

"You think, 'You poor buggers, you have no idea what's coming'.

"It's kind of like when someone dies; you're busy organising funerals and there's family around, but it's not until everybody goes home that it really hits you."

The ash was still settling when anger began to rise about how it all happened.

Within weeks there was talk of forming a class action to pursue Greater Hume Council over its management of the tip, or lack thereof.

On Christmas Eve at the Gerogery Hall, residents described mounds of tyres and overgrown grass at the tip, and the state of the adjacent disused golf course that further fueled the fire.

In considering a potential inquiry in 2010, Albury coroner Gordon Lerve heard from some witnesses including Walla fire captain John Jacob.

He had struggled in vain to contain the fire, and believed it had started in combustible material at the tip.

But Mr Lerve did not proceed with the inquiry, because "it would not be any more successful in determining the actual cause of the fire".

Ms Weber persisted and launched legal action in December 2015, but it was also due to the reason no cause of the fire could be identified that a Supreme Court judge ruled in favour of the Greater Hume Council in May last year.

"They won the first trial, we appealed and then we won that unanimously with three judges all agreeing the council was negligent," she said.

"We all knew it started at the tip, but of course lawyers then got involved and the council stopped talking. Then they tried to appeal to the High Court and they were knocked back."

The Court of Appeal awarded Ms Weber $104,400 plus interest and found the trial judge erred in requiring that a single cause needed to be identified.

The judges concluded that the council breached a duty of care and taking more precautions "would have prevented the ignition or slowed the progress of the fire".

Many in the community think that the High Court's recent ruling in Ms Weber's favour has marked the end of her legal journey.

But mediation, scheduled to start in January, could drag on for much longer.

"There's nowhere else for them to go now and they just need to end this," Ms Weber said.

"Before we even went to court at all, we had mediation and at that stage they could have settled for $7 million, and we're now up to $25 million and it [the interest] is compounding every day.

"Hopefully we get to mediation and they'll agree to settle.

"If not, we go back to court and that depends on what the judge says."

Because of this lengthy process, Ms Weber cannot put the pain that started 10 years ago today behind her.

"I'd like to buy a house ... [but] until the money is in the bank, I won't make any plans," she said.

"I've learned not to get excited.

"You're up and then they kick you straight back down.

"It's been like that for the last three and a half years.

"They've done nothing to improve Gerogery in 10 years other than putting up public toilets.

"The water supply was inadequate at the time of the fires, and they haven't upgraded the water supply.

"The farmers involved [in the class action] are in drought and could use that money just to keep their stock alive; they're all buying feed and some are having to cart water.

"The money is there and it's theirs, but they can't get it and it's not right."

When people in the community are ignorant, that adds to Ms Weber's exhaustion and frustration.

"It's time consuming; I've been to Sydney I don't know how many times now and you sit in the court room all day.

"It's draining and it takes a toll on your health.

"I got a lot of messages from complete strangers after the judgement [in September] saying 'Great, our rates are going to go up now'.

"It's got nothing to do with ratepayers; it comes from insurance and people don't understand that.

"People even said to me at the time, 'Oh well, at least you get new stuff, you're pretty lucky'.

"I don't want new stuff, I want my stuff, I want my dogs back.

"Unless you're in it you don't understand."

But the now-grandmother has persisted through the judgement for the sake of others and her sense of justice.

"Somebody had to do it and it's not just about me, it's about everybody who was affected," she said.

"I knew we were right.

"But Tuesday will be a hard day, there's no getting around it."

Ms Weber hasn't lost her love for Christmas and the decorations adorning her Gerogery home, while not as extravagant as before the fire, are still there.

She only hopes that come Christmas 2020, this decade-long battle will no longer be hanging over her head.

"It will always be in your mind, but I'd like to be able to put it completely in the back on my mind and not keep reliving it," she said.

"Hopefully come January, we can put an end to it all."

Mediation for the Walla tip fire class action is scheduled to take place in Albury on January 30 and 31.

Maddens Lawyers class action principal Brendan Pendergast held a community meeting in June to identify any further residents who could form part of the action.

There are now 63 people involved.

"It's our very real hope that the matter can be finally resolved," Mr Pendergast said.

"In 10 years since the fire, the defendant has explored every avenue open to it in terms of the courts and has been held responsible for the fire.

"These people who are impacted are entitled to be compensated appropriately and without delay."

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Mr Pendergast said Sharon Weber's damages were confirmed and the question of the class action costs were still to be resolved.

"The courts required the parties to mediate," he said.

"The court has made it pretty clear to the parties that any further delays in resolving matters ought to be avoided and we need to get on with it.

"There are substantial amounts of money accruing by way of interest, and it just seems absurd that the parties can't reach a resolution."

Mr Pendergast said the legal team representing the council had had loss assessment reports "for almost three years" for the majority of people in the class action.

"If we can't reach a resolution, what we're then looking at is a whole series of trials before the court to determine each and every class member's damages," he said.

"That would be regrettable."

Greater Hume Council has declined to comment on legal proceedings aside from a statement issued in September, accepting the High Court's dismissal of its special leave application.

"The issue of compensation to the claimants is a matter for council's insurers and lawyers," it read.

"Council acknowledges that the fire has had a significant impact on a number of residents ... it is hoped that the decision handed down on Wednesday, 11 September 2019 will allow some closure for those impacted by the fire.

"Since the formation of Greater Hume Council in May, 2004 the number of landfills in the shire has been reduced from seven to two."