Damian Campbell-Davys, a water tanker driver, got an unexpected cab mate when he spotted a juvenile koala staggering out from a row of pine trees after fires tore through the region near the southern NSW town of Nerriga.

On duty to fill up the tanks of fire trucks, Mr Campbell-Davys found himself slaking the thirst of the disoriented and thirsty marsupial for an hour and a half from his water bottle.

The koala named “Tinny Arse” that was rescued by Damian Campbell-Davys from a bushfire zone sits in his water tanker. Credit:Kate Geraghty

"After the horrors of yesterday, it just made my day," he told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, as he waited for the next fire truck to fill from his 10,000-litre tanker.

"A little ray of sunshine in this nightmare."