"It's a ghost town," says newsagent John Davis, surveying the wreckage of Darling Street.

Workers in protective suits and masks are busy vacuuming asbestos from shopfronts and filling skips with charred bricks and debris. Arson investigators pore over the gaping hole where two shops and the units above them used to be.

A man ducks under police tape to offer a bouquet of Singapore orchids for the three people killed in Thursday's explosion and fire. But beyond the safety barricades, Rozelle's once busy shopping strip is quiet.

Mr Davis' newsagency was among the businesses to reopen on Monday, as police reduced the exclusion zone to the block surrounding the site. "This is normally buzzing," he says, looking down the street. "I feel a bit guilty opening but we need to start rebuilding."

At the other end of the exclusion zone, butcher Chris Mumme waits for the "bone truck" to take away about $20,000 of spoiled stock. His cool room is filled with piles of rotten meat in plastic buckets and bins. "The smell was hideous," he says.

His power was cut off for four days after the explosion, ruining all but the eggs and some biltong. The cost to his business in lost trade is another $20,000, he reckons. "If we had stock we could reopen but there's no point, there's no people here," he says.

The cost to some local businesses might be too great to bear, says Balmain MP Jamie Parker. "We are talking millions of dollars but the real impact will be felt in the coming weeks and months, if people don't come back to the high street," he says.

Some businesses within the exclusion zone will remain closed indefinitely, pending demolition works. Nearby, Michael Sun's printer cartridge shop reopened on Monday but is empty of customers. He says his insurance does not cover the cost of lost trade, which he estimates at about $3000 a day. "We have to carry the cost. No one can help us," he says.

Garbage bags of food fill the driveway next to the About Life market, where two registers are open for trade rather than the usual five. "We will open tomorrow," reads a sign outside a Japanese restaurant. Inside, Peter Yeon and his staff are restocking fridges with fresh sashimi. "Even though it is reopening, people will still evade this area," he says.

Leichhardt Council has started a fire appeal fund for donations, the details of which are on its website. A Rozelle street festival will be held this month to support local businesses and "to start the healing process", says Mr Parker.

Mr Mumme is confident that people will return soon to the popular area. "We are a tight-knit community," he says.

He was asleep in his home above the shop when the explosion shook the building and shattered the glass. "I looked up and saw chaos," he says. Out his window he saw two men jump from their first-floor apartment in their underwear. Flames spiralled into the air.

The aftershocks were still being felt this week, all along Darling Street. But the cost could have been worse still, he stresses.

"We didn't lose any limbs or arms," he says. "I don't care if I lose any meat, I don't care if I am insured, I don't know. We're just grateful to be alive."