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When a local resident returned to his property on Friday afternoon, his home on the coastal fringe was encircled by a “big plume of smoke”. Less than twenty-four hours later, two houses on his street would be lost, and the adjacent bushland 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 veteran firefighter died on Sunday evening when he was struck by a falling tree. This represents a “foreboding start” to the bushfire season.

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

“It's beyond description,” Morgan stated. “My canine companions remained close, it was terrifying.”

Landscapes of Loss and Fortitude

Bulahdelah is a common pause on the Pacific Highway for travelers on their way up the mid-north coast to beach areas 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 circled above, assisting firefighters on the ground who were working to contain a fire that had scorched 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Passing trucks slowed to observe road markers and reduce-speed signs, the blackened gum trees and ash-covered ground on each side of the highway proof of how far the fire had swept through 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 another ordinary day if not for the aircraft overhead and acrid odor lingering in the air.

A refuelling station for aircraft has been established 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, supplies of water were being unloaded from trucks and sweets were being packed into zip lock bags. One firefighter estimated that they needed a bottle of water every 20 minutes when on the active fire ground.

First-Hand Stories from the Blaze

Plumes of smoke were still rising from smoldering patches on Emu Creek Road, a meandering country road 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 attached to the log, complete with a Christmas hat.

Down the road, Morgan sat on his porch with his two dogs, a little patch of grass surrounding his house the only remaining sign of how the area once appeared. Miraculously, his property was saved, despite his neighbor's home burning to the ground.

He recalled 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 estimate was spot on.

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

Fortunately, crews protected the home, and succeeded in defending it. The bushfire passed over 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 not witnessed the land this parched.

“It once rained rain every week,” he said. “This intensity is new. 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 container of wood 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.

“The conditions are far more arid now. It came from everywhere, and the firefighters pretty much saved it [the property].”

This was not a novel situation for Curley, who came close to losing his home in Wattle Grove when fires came through in 2019.

“You hear reports say, ‘The speed was unbelievable’,” he said. “It seems distant, and suddenly it's upon you. I know what it’s like. I told my friend to just get out, and he did.”

Official Response and Ongoing Threat

Kirsty Channon, public information officer 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 “outstanding job” protecting houses from being destroyed.

She said all agencies had “worked as one” after the death of one of their own.

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

“We’ve seen the Pacific Highway open and close a few times, the fire jump backwards and forwards. It remains uncontained, it will continue to grow.”

Channon said work in the immediate future would focus on the small community of Nerong, which was anticipated to be impacted by the highway fire on Monday evening. Authorities advised locals to leave if not prepared, and have a fire plan.

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

“Tomorrow’s weather is mid 30s with variable wind, and that has been difficult - wind swirls in the area.”