Heartbreaking and heartwarming: animals rescued from Australia's bushfires devastation

As Australia’s bushfire crisis continues, millions of hectares have been lost, with a tragic impact on wildlife and flora.

Among the destruction, the efforts of volunteer firefighters, residents and animal rescuers have stood out, with small acts of heroism that have saved many animal lives. A few have become emblematic images of this year’s terrible fire season.

Koalas and Adam

At the Cudlee Creek fire in the Adelaide Hills, a firefighter called Adam rescued at least six koalas from one of the most intense blazes to hit the state.

The devastating fire, which reached emergency level on Friday, killed one person and destroyed 72 homes and 227 vehicles.

On Friday, resident Janelle Michalowski shared an image of the six koalas huddled safely inside after being rescued.

Journalist Laura Thomson praised the rescuer – later identified as Adam Mudge.

She later wrote: “I’m told Adam doesn’t quite get why so many people are praising him – it’s just a part of his job as a volunteer firefighter.”

A kangaroo in the living room

On the New South Wales central coast, a fire at the start of December burned through thousands of hectares, on a day when eight different fires in NSW reached emergency level.

In the town of Kulnura, firefighters set up outside a house, preparing for the firefront. Inside, Narelle Davis and Jill Gilbert were cooking sausages on the stove. Mim the kangaroo sat, unperturbed, on a blanket.

The family told Guardian Australia they had raised the eastern grey kangaroo since she was young, feeding her by hand. They released her, and had let her roam wild for years.

Now, as the fires burned, she turned up at their door seeking shelter.

“Now she’s wild but she comes in. I’ve kept her in because of the fires and that,” Davis told Guardian Australia.

One man and a koala

At Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills, another town hit by the Cudlee Creek blaze, two koalas came out of the bush to escape the fire. They met the best person who could help.

Dale Adams, a lieutenant at the Eden Hills Country Fire Service, took the photo of his colleague. He told Guardian Australia it was common for koalas to come out, apparently looking for firefighters, in these situations.

“Up behind us there were a couple of houses under threat so we were working to protect them from ember attack,” he said. “They stepped out of the bush seeking help.”

He said the koalas were given water and moved to a safer location.

The possum in a helmet

In Balmoral, NSW, relatives of another volunteer firefighter shared these incredible images of a ringtail possum escaping the flames and finding safety in an RFS helmet.

The kangaroo cooling off

Taking a cue from Mim the kangaroo in Kulnura, this roo was spotted going further, dipping into a suburb pool on a 42C day in the Hunter.

Koala rescue dogs

And how could we forget the animals themselves helping rescue animnals: from Taylor the springer spaniel in Port Macquarie, on the NSW mid-north coast, to Bear, the cattle-dog cross with obsessive-compulsive disorder who, after being abandoned by his owners, found a new life as a koala detection dog.

Quolls in Oxley national park

Conservationist Bronwyn Fancourt shared this video on Friday of a quoll being rescued and released back into the Oxley Wild Rivers national park in NSW, even after the devastation had rolled through.

Baby Blossom

Berrara Beach

Kangaroos gathered on Saturday at this NSW beachside property as fires blazed on a horror day for the state.