Caroline Miszkowiec, who lost her home in the fires, spoke for residents when she thanked neighbours and the wider public for its pouring of support for victims.

"All those tears and those hugs will help us to move on," she said as husband Andrew consoled her to great applause from the 100-strong throng.

The service was a few hundred metres from where six houses were burnt down in a grassfire on February 7, 2009.

There were no pastors and priests at the informal service outside Amberly Park shops; they had been called out to other areas of the state.

With little fanfare, service-goers clustered around a bench that was last week donated by Affirm Welding's Mark and Nicky Johnson. The jarrah-timber, chrome creation is regarded as the public monument that residents wanted. Casey Council refused to back the monument last year.

The council hadn't organised a service for yesterday, but plans to spend $10,000 in Victorian Bushfire Appeal funding on events later this year.

Andrew Miszkowiec, whose home was incinerated in the fires, publicly thanked Mr and Ms Johnson for the monument.

Special thanks were also given to Narre Warren South MP Judith Graley, who organised funds for a plaque, and to Mark Dickinson, who organised a carnival at Amberly Park that raised $30,000 for the victims.

Many residents, some who have just resettled or rebuilt, also felt that some have moved on too soon or dismissed their traumas too lightly. At the service, Mr Dickinson said that while the public had largely forgot about the victims, "We will not and cannot forget".

"We're here to show the true Aussie spirit is alive and well."