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As Garry Morgan returned to his property on Friday afternoon, his rural mid-north coast property was surrounded by a dense smoke column. Less than twenty-four hours later, a pair of homes on his street were consumed, and the surrounding forest was transformed into charred remnants.

A Town Grappling with Loss

The community of Bulahdelah, around 235km north of Sydney, has become at the centre of a devastating event after a long-serving firefighter died on Sunday evening when he was struck by a falling tree. This signals a ominous beginning to the wildfire period.

A total of four homes have been destroyed in the broader Bulahdelah area, including two on Emu Creek Road, where Morgan lives, 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, the fear was palpable.”

Landscapes of Loss and Fortitude

Bulahdelah is a common pause 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 blanketed in dense, ochre-hazed smoke. Water-bombing helicopters hovered overhead, aiding firefighters on the ground who were working to contain 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 charred grass on each side of the highway a stark reminder of how far the fire had swept through the adjacent Myall Lakes national park. It was still at a 'watch and act' alert level on Monday evening.

A Hub of Emergency Response

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

A refueling point for aircraft has been established at the town’s showground, turning it into a central point for around 300 fire crews and volunteers who have travelled from across the state to help.

On Monday afternoon, supplies of water were being offloaded from trucks and lollies were being packaged 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

Plumes of smoke were still rising from spots of embers on Emu Creek Road, a winding rural street that follows a creek bed south of the township where two houses were lost.

On a fence post outside a burnt property, a charred teddy bear remained attached to the log, complete with a Christmas hat.

Down the road, Morgan was on his veranda with his two dogs, a small area of green surrounding his house the only remaining sign of how the area once appeared. Against the odds, his property was spared, despite his neighbour’s burning to the ground.

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

“We doused the buildings and shed down, wet the perimeter,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “panic”. “I said to myself, ‘this is overwhelming’,” he said. “I decided to stay.”

Thankfully, firefighters surrounded the house, and succeeded in defending it. The bushfire moved through in about half an hour, with a sound resembling “a roaring flame”.

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 looking after his friend’s property which had also mostly been spared Saturday’s blaze, other than a damaged light 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. “A few years ago a fire almost reached a local ridge and that was quite frightening 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 was not a novel situation for Curley, who nearly lost 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. “It seems distant, and suddenly it's upon you. I understand the feeling. I told my friend to evacuate immediately, and he did.”

Fire Service Update and Continuing Danger

Kirsty Channon, public information officer for the NSW Rural Fire Service, said crews from multiple agencies had come from “right up and down the coast” to help with the firefighting operation and had done an “amazing 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. “The threat persists.

“We’ve seen the Pacific Highway open and close a few times, the fire spot across the road. It’s still not contained, it will continue to grow.”

Channon said work in the immediate future would center on the small community of Nerong, which was expected to be hit by the Pacific Highway blaze on Monday evening. Residents had been urged to leave if not prepared, and have a fire plan.

“Spot fires are starting from storm activity a few days ago,” she said.

“Tomorrow’s weather is mid 30s with shifting winds, and that’s been challenge - wind swirls in the area.”