Norm Mackay has lost his beautiful house to fire - but at least he has his dog back

The Lake Ohau villager couldn't manage to get his kelpie Milo in the car, when firefighters rushed him out in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The large Mackenzie Basin blaze then swept through through more than five-thousand hectares - taking out 46 of 107 homes in its path.

Mackay says he thought he'd lost the five-year-old dog until a firefighter saw him on a track near the village yesterday.

He says he raced to the village, blew a dog whistle and Milo came rushing to him, as fast as Usain Bolt.