Bereaved NSW man searches for dog lost in fires

Ash Graham's dog Kozi wakes him at 8 a.m., er for his morning walk.

n Ash realizes he's dreaming.

He gets up from one-man tent he's been sleeping in since fire swept through vill of Nerrigundah on New Year's Eve.

And Ash begins his weary search for Kozi once again: hiking south down dried-up creek, past wallabies that were burned to death as y fled, kcking on doors, trying to keep track of grids he's alrey covered.

Ash's wife Melanie died from cancer a year or so ago and his house burned down in fire.

His truck and his few belongings are all with him in yard of fire station, last place he saw Kozi.

A volunteer firefighter, Ash h left Kozi at station and was driving around warning people to leave when his dog bolted.

"He's all everything I've got left, he's all that's left after my wife passed away. He's my best mate. Literally, best mate," Graham said. "I'm just hoping he was faster than Armddon."

tiny vill of Nerrigundah in New South Wales has been among hardest hit by Australia's devastating wildfires, with about two-thirds of homes destroyed.

A man in his 70s who lived near vill was killed.

Like many small communities in Australia that have been scorched by wildfires, Nerrigundah will never be same.

Colin Brennan's home was turned into rubble by storm. He plans to rebuild, but doesn't kw how many neighbors will join him.

"I'll be back, yeah, this is home. This is where I live, this is me. I've got a life. I can walk around without using me white stick," said Brennan, who is legally blind.

Once a thriving gold mining town that was home to over 1,000 people, Nerrigundah has lately been home to just a few dozen people who love peace of Australian bush, a place from bustling cities where ir dogs can run around.

But w 150-year-old store has burned down. old schoolhouse is gone, and so is church.

wildfire caught vill by surprise, after it was expected to hit a day or two later. And body could believe its ferocity.

Across or side of town, Lyle Stewart, 65, was retching from thick black smoke as he tried to save his house by dousing it in water. n his hose caught alight.

But he and his buddy me it to Lyle's car. air conditioning helped filter gunk y were breathing. It took m 90 minutes to drive short distance to fire station as y used a chainsaw to cut through a half-dozen flaming trees that h fallen across ro.

Residents are still coming to terms with what y have lost.

Lyle, who moved here in 1985, h just finished restoring a caravan that has been reduced to ash.

n re are thousands of comics his son h collected that he was storing.

What really irks him, he jokes, is that carton of Victoria Bitter beer he'd just bought and hn't h a single drink from.

"This is everything we've worked for over last 35 years, gone," he says.

He doesn't kw wher he and his wife will return.

"When I took photos and showed her in Moruya and n brought her out here, she broke down," he said.

Graham is continuing his vigil outside fire station where he last saw Kozi. Regardless of what happens in his search, he is planning to stay in vill.

"I'll always be in Nerrigundah, I can't leave this place. community is too good for that," he said.