NSW farmer forced to shoot his cattle that were burned by bushfires

WARNING: Disturbing content:

A NSW dairy-turned-beef farmer's story of having to shoot his cattle has made world headlines in the wake of the Australian bushfire crisis.

In an area where four people perished in a ferocious fire, Steve Shipton's eyes were burning as he tried to save his home.

"I thought I was a goner," the Coolagolite cattle farmer told AAP.

A number of Steve Shipton's cows lay dead after being killed in his paddock during a bushfire in Coolagolite. Photo / AAP

"The heat was horrendous. My eyes … I couldn't see 20 feet last night."

The Countegany/Dampier State Forest blaze raced through Cobargo and Coolagolite on Tuesday morning on its way to burning an area twice the size of Canberra.

Three men and an unidentified person died out of a population of about 1050.

Mr Shipton thought he was fine to protect his home after getting his wife and kids inside and his stock out to a dirt clearing.

"It all happened so quick," the 46-year-old said, soot still covering his face.

"I stayed out. I suppose I shouldn't have but it just happened so fast.

"It's just unbelievable. The ferocity and how quick … That's what shocked me and that's why I thought we were in a good situation to survive," he said.

He estimates he lost about a tenth of his 250-odd head of cattle.

His story has made world headlines on the UK's Metro and Mail Online.

Fires on the beach at Malua Bay, NSW. Photo / via Twitter

Most of the cattle had been where Mr Shipton thought would be safe – on dirt with a feed rack – but the animals "obviously panicked".

A vet on Wednesday was assessing which would survive and which needed to be euthanised.

"There are some in there badly scorched," Mr Shipton said.

"He'll know better than me what can survive and what can't because I've never been through this scenario.

"You don't want them to suffer." The forefront spared Cobargo artist Sally Wilson's shop but embers took hold of the historic property as she and her partner Christopher Lee protected their home and animals a short walk away.

As things calmed down at home, Mr Lee walked over to the shop to find it alight.

"The firefighters said it had started 20 minutes before," she told AAP, standing beside the rubble.