Photographer Selwyn Cox was there to capture the firestorm, as was Newcastle Herald photographer Marina Neil.

While the pair captured plenty of remarkable photos of the fire and firefighters, their photos also told stories of the threat facing wildlife.

Marina's photo of a wallaby swimming across Wallarah Creek to escape the fire ran in the Herald on Wednesday.

Selwyn, of Out and About Photography, took a sequence of photos of a possum and its baby being rescued from under a police vehicle.

A police officer and a Fire and Rescue worker reached under the vehicle for the critters, as flames and thick black smoke flared in the background.

"A NSW Fire Rescue guy borrowed my gloves and went into rescue the possum to get it out before the highway patrol car left," Selwyn said.

A police baton was used to prod the mother possum out from under the vehicles.

"The poor thing - it was hot under there," he said.

Not as hot, though, as the flames that the possums were escaping.

Once the possums were out from under the car, the rescuers tried to put the pair back together.

But the baby didn't want to go to its mum.

"Possums are nocturnal, of course, so they like the dark," Selwyn said.

The police officer had his overalls on.

"Thankfully, he had the perfect pocket for the baby possum," Selwyn said.

"We stuck the baby possum in there and it was quite content."

The possums were taken to a safe place before animal rescuers took them to a nearby vet.

We interviewed Aussie Ark president Tim Faulkner last week for an in-depth piece in the Herald's news section about the bushfires' terrible effects on wildlife.

With about a million hectares of national park burnt in and around the Hunter, it's been like a holocaust for animals and plants - including threatened species.

When we spoke to Tim, who is also Australian Reptile Park's general manager, we were struck by the powerful emotion in his voice.

He was feeling the loss of ecology deeply.

"Wild places and the natural world are shrinking rapidly," he said.

He's working to ensure species will be around for the future.

"I work from the mindset that they'll be here in 1000 years. I have to believe that. If not, why am I doing it?", he said.

He said the survival of species "means something to a lot of people right now".

"It's going to mean a hell of a lot more in another 100 years when there's less of them."

Without forests, there is no life.

"They're our clean air and water, they're our life support," he said.

"The forests are shrinking at a rapid rate through fire, drought and land clearing. We have to pay attention and focus on what's there. We're each connected to it, whether we like it or not."

Tex Perkins made a few waves when he performed at the Sydney New Year's Eve concert on ABC.

"This one's for the Prime Minister, it's called The Honeymoon Is Over," he said, directing his middle finger towards Kirribilli.

Now that's rock and roll.