'It's something that will never leave us': One decade since the Quakers Hill aged care fire

Today marks 10 years since the devastating fire at a Sydney aged care home which claimed 11 lives.

On November 18 2011, drug-dependent Roger Dean set fire to Quakers Hill aged care facility to cover up his theft of prescription drugs.

Mr Dean was later convicted and sentenced to life without parole.

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Now, a decade has passed since the tragedy but it hasn't gotten easier for the family and friends of the victims.

Each year, the anniversary of the fire is difficult for Sue Webeck, who lost her mother in the blaze.

"I've never been in a war but it just looked like a warzone," she said.

Ms Webeck's mother, Verna, was one of the 11 residents who died as a direct result of the blaze.

"Mum hung on for 11 days. And I don't know how her body did it," she said.

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Friends and families of the victims are today not just remembering their loved ones, but also honouring the heroic actions of the emergency service crews.

Firefighters who battled the blaze and saved 69 sick and frail residents have been commemorated today.

"It's something that will never leave us. That incident, that moment, what we had to do together as a team," Brett Johnson, one of the firefighters involved in the rescue, said.

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A decade on, there's new staff and a new facility at the Quakers Hill site.

There are also new safety measures in aged care homes across NSW.

After investigations by Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW), the state government has since mandated sprinkler systems to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again.

"So now we know that the people in those facilities are far safer than they ever were before," FRNSW Deputy Commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell said.