Volunteer firefighters from Heathcote Headquarters Brigade came to the rescue of a baby ringtail possum, which fled an approaching bushfire.
Rural Fire Service member Edwina Illman shared on social media a touching video of the possum lapping up water from her bottle.
The rescue took place near a golf course at Hammondville on Sunday.
"We saw our little guy race on the golf course from the smokey bush that was about to be impacted by fire," Edwina said.
"My colleague scooped it up, we checked its feet for damage, it took all my water and then just wanted to snuggle into my mate's arm - he was pretty scared and hot.
"We saw a golf groundsman on a maintenance buggy and gave it to him to take to it off the fireground and called WIRES."
WIRES, the NSW Wildlife Information and Rescue Service, said in a Facebook post, "Our hearts are breaking for the animals that have lost their lives, the people that have found them, the wildlife carers who are rescuing them and the vets and volunteers who are with them in their last moments".
A fundraiser launched by the service to help animals impacted by the bushfires has been bombarded with donations.
Professor Chris Dickman, from the University of Sydney's Faculty of Science, has estimated more than 800 million animals have been killed in NSW in the recent bushfires, and more than one billion nationally.
