Firefighter rescues six koalas from certain death after spotting them in the path of a bushfire

A hero firefighter has been praised for rescuing six vulnerable koalas from being incinerated by a raging bushfire. 

Adelaide woman Janelle Michalowski posted a photo of the marsupials huddling together inside her home near a bucket of water.

‘Amazing work by a man named Adam and his mates who pulled these guys out of harm’s way at Cudlee Creek and into safety!’ she wrote. 

‘Adam is a firefighter and currently working out in the field, he has made everyone’s day.’ 

In the powerful photograph, one of the koalas can be seen clutching the door frame nervously.

The post has since gone viral with 22,000 shares and more than 300 comments.

‘All I have in my mind is images of burnt koalas, good to see some rescued out of danger,’ one thankful person wrote. 

‘How beautiful well done these are our true heroes,’ another added. 

‘You are amazing. Thank you for saving these little cuties,’ a third wrote. 

Koala Rescue have since taken the koalas into their care. 

The massive Cudlee Creek fire in the Adelaide Hills has ravaged 25,000 hectares of country. 

Two people have died, 54 others are injured and 15 homes have been burned as bushfires continue to cause carnage across South Australia.  

Adelaide woman Janelle Michalowski praised the firefighter, only known as Adam, for taking the time to rescue the native animals from certain death (photo of a south Australia wildfire)

Nature Conservation Council ecologist Mark Graham told an inquiry earlier this month koalas in most instances ‘really have no capacity to move fast enough to get away’ from fires. 

‘We’ve lost such a massive swathe of known koala habitat that I think we can say without any doubt there will be ongoing declines in koala populations from this point forward,’ Mr Graham said.

‘The fires have burnt so hot and so fast that there has been significant mortality of animals in the trees, but there is such a big area now that is still on fire and still burning that we will probably never find the bodies.’

In NSW, the raging bushfires had already claimed the lives of up to 2000 koalas by December 9.  

It comes just one day after a terrified koala was found outside an Adelaide home with her joey seeking shelter

North East Forest Alliance president and ecologist Dailan Pugh said since July fires have burnt more than 1.6 million hectares of the northeast NSW bio-region including 24 per cent of koala habitat.

‘Based on habitat loss it is likely that over 2000 koalas have died either in the fires or from starvation and dehydration since, though the actual numbers could be far greater,’ Mr Pugh said. 

Science for Wildlife executive director Dr Kellie Leigh said there was no resources or planning in place to save koala populations from fires.

‘We’re getting a lot of lessons out of this and it’s just showing how unprepared we are,’ Dr Leigh said on Monday.

‘There’s no procedures or protocols in place … even wildlife carers don’t have protocols for when they can go in after fire.’ 

Port Macquarie Koala Hospital’s clinical director Cheyne Flanagan said the number of koalas lost in the recent fires combined further losses means the hospital’s local population could decline by up to 85 per cent