A day after the house fire that claimed the lives of three young children, Singleton was trying to come to grips with the tragic incident that has rocked the community.
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Family, friends, neighbours, classmates and residents of the town who did not even know the Atkins family were grieving the loss of 11-year-old boy Blake and five-year-old twin girls Matylda and Scarlett.
The Hunter Valley town's residents, along with people from the region and across the country, had flooded a GoFundMe fundraising campaign with donations to support the family in the 24 hours since the fire.
Close to $200,000 had been raised by Friday morning for 31-year-old mother Kara and her eight-year-old daughter Bayley - who both survived the Wednesday morning blaze - and Ms Atkins' partner, Chris.
People stopped by the family's fire-ravaged Brittliffe Close home throughout the day to pay their respects alongside a floral tribute set up under a tree in the property's front yard.
Relatives of the family had visited the property early in the morning, but there was little for them left to pick up inside the charred and now fenced-off house.
Stuart Sonter, 32, and his partner, Emily Murphy, 26, arrived at the house with their two children, Tyler, 5, and Georgia, 4, at midday to lay flowers.
Mr Sonter said the incident had evoked memories of losing his grandmother in a family house fire only a street away in 1997.
The couple said they were aware of the tragedy on Wednesday morning, but it wasn't until the evening news that they knew who was involved.
Tyler had spotted the twins in news reports and commented that they were his classmates at school.
"It wasn't until photos come up on the news that my son actually said, 'I go to school with them'," Mr Sonter said. "That's when I had to sort of sit him down and have a talk to him about it."
Tyler and Georgia each laid a bunch of flowers outside the home, which Mr Sonter and Ms Murphy thought was a gesture that may help their son in understanding the deaths.
"We just thought we'd come down and show our support by putting some flowers down," he said.
"Something special for him, something to settle him a little. We've donated to the GoFundMe page as well."
Investigations were continuing into the cause of the fire on Thursday, with the focus on a wood heater that was removed from the home on Wednesday for analysis.
Ms Atkins remained at John Hunter Hospital in a stable condition on Thursday evening. An update on her daughter Bayley's condition could not be provided.