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When a local resident returned to his property on Friday afternoon, his rural mid-north coast property was enveloped in a dense smoke column. Within twenty-four hours later, two houses on his street were consumed, and the surrounding forest would be reduced to blackened skeletal remains.

A Community at the Centre of Tragedy

The township of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has found itself at the heart of a tragedy after a long-serving firefighter died on Sunday evening when he was struck by a falling tree. This marks a “foreboding start” to the fire season.

Four properties have been destroyed in the broader Bulahdelah area, comprising two on Emu Creek Road, the residence of Garry Morgan, one on the Pacific Highway and one south of the township.

“No words can express it,” Morgan stated. “The dogs didn’t leave my side, it was terrifying.”

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a popular stopover on the Pacific Highway for tourists on their way 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 thick, orange smoke. Aircraft conducting water drops hovered overhead, aiding firefighters on the ground who were battling a fire that had consumed 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Passing trucks slowed to observe traffic cones and reduce-speed signs, the charred eucalypts and charred grass on each side of the highway evidence of how far the fire had ravaged the adjacent Myall Lakes national park. It was still at a watch and act level on Monday evening.

The Nerve Centre for Firefighting

In Bulahdelah, though, it would seem like a typical day if not for the aircraft overhead and acrid odor lingering in the air.

A refueling point for aircraft has been set up at the town’s showground, turning it into a hub for around 300 emergency personnel who have travelled from across the state to help.

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

Personal Accounts from the Fireground

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

On a boundary post outside a burnt property, a scorched stuffed toy remained pinned to the log, still wearing a Christmas hat.

Further along, Morgan sat on his porch with his two dogs, a little patch of grass surrounding his house the only remaining sign of how the landscape used to look. Miraculously, his property was saved, despite his neighbor's home burning to the ground.

He remembered receiving a call from a friend at lunchtime on Saturday, telling him “you’ve got about half an hour and then a fire’s going to hit”. His timing was precise.

“We sprayed the house and shed down, sprayed the fence line,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “alarm”. “I thought, ‘what the hell have I got myself into’,” he said. “I decided to stay.”

Thankfully, crews protected the home, and managed to save it. The bushfire moved through in about half an hour, sounding like “a roaring flame”.

An Environment Altered

Morgan, who has resided at the same house for around 30 years, has never seen the land in such a dry state.

“We used to get rain every week,” he said. “This intensity is new. But you must accept the challenges with the rewards.”

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

“I’ve been here many, many times,” he said. “A few years ago a fire almost approached a nearby ridge and that was pretty scary then, but the wind changed.

“It’s just so much drier this time. It came from everywhere, and the firies essentially protected it [the property].”

This experience wasn’t new for Curley, who came close to losing his home in Wattle Grove when fires came through in 2019.

“You hear reports say, ‘I can’t believe how fast it came’,” he said. “You think it’s over there, and suddenly it's upon you. I understand the feeling. I told my friend to just get out, and he did.”

Official Response and Ongoing Threat

Kirsty Channon, spokesperson for the NSW Rural Fire Service, said crews from various services had come from “across the coastal region” to assist in the firefighting operation and had done an “incredible work” protecting houses from being destroyed.

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

“Firefighters is a close-knit group,” she said. “The threat persists.

“There have been instances of the Pacific Highway closing and reopening a few times, the fire spot across the road. It remains uncontained, it will continue to grow.”

Channon said work in the immediate future would focus on the tiny township of Nerong, which was anticipated to be impacted by the highway fire on Monday evening. Residents had been urged to evacuate if unprepared, and prepare a bushfire survival plan.

“Small blazes are starting from lightning strikes a few days ago,” she said.

“The forecast is the mid-thirties with variable wind, and that’s been challenge - wind changes direction in the area.”