At home with couple who saved baby kangaroos from the fires

FILE PHOTO: An orphaned kangaroo joey that was rescued during the bushfire season, stands inside the living room of partners Gary Wilson and Julie Willis's home, both of whom are animal carers, in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Even as a fierce bushfire bore down on the rural Australian community of Wytaliba, Gary Wilson and his partner Julie Willis decided not to flee their timber home - they had a house full of orphaned baby kangaroos to protect.

More than a dozen of the marsupials snuggled into fabric pouches hung in the couple's living room, like stockings on Christmas Eve.

An orphaned kangaroo joey that was rescued during the bushfire season, sits in a cloth pouch, hung in the the living room of partners Gary Wilson and Julie Willis's home, both of whom are animal carers, in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Full-grown kangaroos and other wildlife that had left their care long ago also came back to the house in search of refuge as the flames approached.

"We had way too many animals in the house and around the house so we really couldn't go ... we decided we were going to stay and fight," Wilson told Reuters, at the couple's off-the-grid home, now surrounded by scorched earth and burnt-out vehicles.

"At three o'clock it was a beautiful summer's day, by four o'clock it was midnight," Wilson said. "You couldn't see any more than 20 yards and then the firestorm came through and pretty much burned everything."

Gary Wilson, an animal carer, stands outside his home in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Wilson and Willis defended their home for at least 14 hours with fire extinguishers, water pumps and a sprinkler system on the roof that doused burning embers falling from the sky.

Good preparation and more than an ounce of luck meant the couple's cypress-pine home still stands - and the motherless joeys survived. The Nov. 8 fire that swept through the small Wytaliba community, which was originally set up as a commune in the 1970s, killed two of Wilson's neighbors.

"It was a horrible thing ... the whole bush has been burnt. It's been vaporized - it's Vietnam is what it looks like," Wilson said as infant kangaroos ate grain from a trough fashioned from a car tyre and lined up two-by-two to be bottle-fed special milk.

Gary Wilson, an animal carer, feeds an orphaned kangaroo joey that was rescued during the bushfire season, inside his home in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Willis said she had never seen fires so fierce, and that most animals, such as possums, gliders, echidnas, lizards and even many birds were not fast enough to escape the flames.

"It's not until after the fires when it really hits you how close you were to dying but at the time you are too busy trying to put the fire out," she said.

Australia's prolonged bushfire season has killed 33 people and an estimated 1 billion native animals since September. About 2,500 homes have been destroyed and more than 11.7 million hectares (28.9 million acres) of tinder-dry bushland have been razed.

The remains of a burnt down house, destroyed during the bushfire season are pictured in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

The number of boarders at the Wytaliba home, which has been a sanctuary for wildlife for 25 years, is ballooning as the fallout from the fires continues with burns, scarce food and ash-tainted water still devastating local wildlife.

While Wilson and Willis usually care for joeys rescued after their mothers are struck by vehicles, they are now hosting an increasing number of fire orphans.

Willis said the joeys, which are fed a special milk formula every two to four hours just like their human counterparts, will eventually be released back into the wild.

An orphaned kangaroo joey that was rescued during the bushfire season, stands inside the living room of partners Gary Wilson and Julie Willis's home, both of whom are animal carers, in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

"We didn't have children ourselves; this is what we spend our time doing,' she said, as she gently stroked a joey on her lap while another nudged her feet. "We think it's worthy - a worthy cause - looking after our babies no matter what they are, whether they are kangaroos, echidnas or wombats."

Julie Willis, an animal carer, feeds orphaned kangaroo joeys that were rescued during the bushfire season, in the living room of her home in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 27, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

(Reporting by Jorga Silva in Wytaliba; Writing by Jonathan Barrett; Editing by Jane Wardell)

Julie Willis, an animal carer, feeds orphaned kangaroo joeys that were rescued during the bushfire season, in the living room of her home in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Julie Willis, an animal carer, carries an orphaned kangaroo joey that was rescued during the bushfire season, in the living room of her home in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 27, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

An orphaned kangaroo joey that was rescued during the bushfire season, plays with Gary Wilson, an animal carer, in the living room of his home in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 27, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Partners Gary Wilson and Julie Willis, both of whom are animal carers, have lunch at their home in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Julie Willis, an animal carer, feeds orphaned kangaroo joeys that were rescued during the bushfire season, in the living room of her home, in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

An orphaned kangaroo joey that was rescued during the bushfire season, jumps inside the living room of partners Gary Wilson and Julie Willis's home, both of whom are animal carers, in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Partners Gary Wilson and Julie Willis, both of whom are animal carers, sit in their living room of their home in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Orphaned kangaroo joeys that were rescued during the bushfire season, sit in cloth pouches hung in the the living room of partners Gary Wilson and Julie Willis's home, both of whom are animal carers, in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Gary Wilson, an animal carer, carries orphaned kangaroo joeys that were rescued during the bushfire season, outside his home in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Partners Gary Wilson and Julie Willis, both of whom are animal carers, collect sand bags used to protect homes from the rain, in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

A kangaroo who sustained burn wounds during the bushfire season, stands in the backyard of partners Julie Willis and Gary Wilson's home, both of whom are animal carers, in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 27, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

A kangaroo joey hangs from its mother's pouch, outside partners Gary Wilson and Julie Willis's home, both of whom are animal carers, in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Partners Gary Wilson and Julie Willis, both of whom are animal carers, chat outside their home in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

Julie Willis, an animal carer, feeds orphaned kangaroo joeys, in an area of her home designated for the pre-release of kangaroos, in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

An orphaned kangaroo joey that was rescued during the bushfire season, stands in the living room of partners Gary Wilson and Julie Willis's home, both of whom are animal carers, in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

A kangaroo stands in front of the remains of a burnt down house, destroyed during the bushfire season, in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

The remains of cars that were burnt during the bushfire season, are piled up in the community of Wytaliba, New South Wales, Australia January 27, 2020. REUTERS/Jorge Silva