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As Garry Morgan returned to his property on the end of the week, his rural mid-north coast property was encircled by a “big plume of smoke”. Less than twenty-four hours later, two dwellings on his street would be lost, and the nearby woodland became charred remnants.

A Community at the Centre of Tragedy

The community of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has become at the centre of a tragedy after a experienced firefighter lost his life on Sunday evening when he was hit by a falling tree. This marks a ominous beginning to the wildfire period.

A total of four homes have been destroyed in the wider Bulahdelah area, comprising two on Emu Creek Road, where Morgan lives, one on the Pacific Highway and one south of the township.

“Words fail to capture it,” Morgan stated. “My canine companions remained close, the fear was palpable.”

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a popular stopover on the Pacific Highway for holidaymakers journeying up the coastal region to coastal destinations such as Seal Rocks, Forster and Port Macquarie.

On Monday afternoon, the highway south of town was shrouded in dense, ochre-hazed smoke. Aircraft conducting water drops hovered overhead, assisting firefighters on the ground who were battling a fire that had burnt 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Heavy vehicles slowed to observe traffic cones and warning signs, the blackened gum trees and ash-covered ground on each side of the highway evidence of how far the fire had burnt through the adjacent Myall Lakes national park. It remained at a 'watch and act' alert level on Monday evening.

A Hub of Emergency Response

In Bulahdelah, though, it would seem like another ordinary day if not for the helicopters circling overhead and acrid odor lingering in the air.

A fuel depot for aircraft has been established at the town’s showground, converting it into a base for around 300 firefighters and volunteers who have travelled from across the state to help.

On Monday afternoon, water bottles were being offloaded from trucks and lollies were being packaged into zip lock bags. One firefighter noted that they needed a bottle of water every 20 minutes when on the frontline.

First-Hand Stories from the Blaze

Clouds of smoke were still rising from smoldering patches on Emu Creek Road, a winding rural street that hugs a creek bed south of the township where two houses were lost.

On a fence post outside a destroyed home, a scorched stuffed toy remained pinned to the log, still wearing a Christmas hat.

Down the road, Morgan was on his veranda with his two dogs, a little patch of grass surrounding his house the sole remnant of how the area once appeared. Miraculously, his property was saved, despite his neighbour’s burning to the ground.

He recalled receiving a call from a friend at lunchtime on Saturday, telling him “you have roughly 30 minutes and then a fire’s going to hit”. His estimate was spot on.

“We hosed down the property and shed down, sprayed the fence line,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “alarm”. “I said to myself, ‘this is overwhelming’,” he said. “But I wasn’t leaving.”

Fortunately, firefighters surrounded the house, and managed to save it. The bushfire moved through in about half an hour, with a sound resembling “a roaring inferno”.

An Environment Altered

Morgan, who has lived in the same house for around 30 years, has not witnessed the land this parched.

“We used to get rain every week,” he said. “Fires of this magnitude are unprecedented. But you’ve got to take the good with the bad.”

On the same street, Jeff Curley was caring for his friend’s property which had also mostly been spared Saturday’s blaze, except for a broken headlight on a car and a barrel of firewood stored for winter that had burnt to ash.

“I am very familiar with this area,” he said. “Previously a fire almost reached a local ridge and that was pretty scary then, but the wind changed.

“The dryness is extreme now. Flames emerged on all sides, and the firies pretty much saved it [the property].”

This experience wasn’t new for Curley, who nearly lost his home in Wattle Grove when fires swept through in 2019.

“You see people on the news say, ‘I can’t believe how fast it came’,” he said. “You think it’s over there, and all of a sudden it’s on top of you. I know what it’s like. I told my friend to evacuate immediately, and he did.”

Fire Service Update and Continuing Danger

Kirsty Channon, spokesperson for the NSW Rural Fire Service, said crews from various services had come from “right up and down the coast” to help with the firefighting operation and had done an “outstanding job” saving properties from being destroyed.

She said all agencies had “united” after the tragic loss of one of their own.

“The firefighting community is a close-knit group,” she said. “However, the danger is not over.

“There have been instances of the Pacific Highway open and close a few times, the fire jump backwards and forwards. It remains uncontained, it is expected to spread.”

Channon said efforts in the coming hours would center on the small community of Nerong, which was anticipated to be impacted by the highway fire on Monday evening. Authorities advised locals to evacuate if unprepared, and prepare a bushfire survival plan.

“Little fires are igniting from storm activity a few days ago,” she said.

“Tomorrow’s weather is the mid-thirties with shifting winds, and that has been difficult - wind changes direction in the area.”