NSW Man survives out-of-control bush fire after taking cover in makeshift 'coffin'

The makeshift "coffin" Mr Harrison hid inside. Photo / NewsComAu

An artist living in a NSW town that's been wiped out incredibly survived a fire bearing down on his home by taking cover in a makeshift "coffin".

Steve Harrison, a resident of Balmoral in the Southern Highlands, said a he saw a "big plume of black smoke" as the Green Wattle Creek firestorm roared through the town.

The fast-moving fires scorched trees, cars, outbuildings and everything else in its path, leaving residents scrambling to find shelter.

"When it came, it came in like three or four minutes, just a big plume of black smoke and then ember fallout," recalled Mr Harrison.

In an interview with ABC, Mr Harrison described how he frantically tried to turn on the sprinklers on buildings in his property on Saturday but within minutes he found himself trapped, unable to escape.

"My garden was already on fire here. And the driveway was on fire, and the road was on fire. So I realised I couldn't evacuate," he said.

He said he had to turn to his plan B: Hiding in a small kiln, just the size of a coffin, that he had built the day before. It was just big enough for him to crawl inside, he said.

"I hid in there for half an hour while the firestorm went over," he said.

It's unclear how many homes have been destroyed in the town, but NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said "there's not much left" there.

"I'm very sad to hear that, and many residents, of course, have had that news in the last little while," Ms Berejiklian told reporters yesterday.

The town is home to some 400 people, with an estimated 150 houses.

Conditions are tipped to be better today but there are still 200 fires burning across Australia.

Seven people have been killed and more than 900 homes lost in this year's bushfire season.

Here's a breakdown of where these homes have been destroyed.

NSW – 789, Queensland – 40, South Australia – 86, Western Australia – one.

On top of this, thousands of outbuildings have been destroyed or damaged, stock and crops destroyed.

The fires have also had a devastating effect on wildlife. It's now estimated that around 2000 koalas have been killed.