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When Garry Morgan arrived home on the end of the week, his home on the coastal fringe was enveloped in a “big plume of smoke”. Within twenty-four hours later, two dwellings on his street were destroyed, and the surrounding forest was transformed into blackened skeletal remains.

A Community at the Centre of Tragedy

The community of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has found itself at the heart of a tragedy after a veteran firefighter lost his life on Sunday evening when he was struck by a collapsing tree. This signals a “foreboding start” to the bushfire season.

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 dogs stayed right by me, the fear was palpable.”

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a frequent rest stop on the Pacific Highway for holidaymakers 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 covered by thick, orange smoke. Helicopters circled above, aiding ground crews who were battling a fire that had scorched 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Passing trucks reduced speed for road markers and warning signs, the charred eucalypts and burnt grass on each side of the highway a stark reminder of how far the fire had ravaged the adjacent Myall Lakes national park. It remained at a 'watch and act' alert 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 refuelling station for aircraft has been set up at the town’s showground, transforming it into a base for around 300 firefighters and volunteers who have come from across the state to help.

On Monday afternoon, cartons of water were being unloaded 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 continuing to emit from glowing hotspots on Emu Creek Road, a meandering country road that follows a creek bed south of the township where two houses were lost.

On a boundary post outside a destroyed home, a scorched stuffed toy remained pinned to the log, complete with a Christmas hat.

Further along, Morgan sat on his porch 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 saved, 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 prediction was accurate.

“We hosed down the property and shed down, sprayed the fence line,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “alarm”. “I thought, ‘this is overwhelming’,” he said. “But I refused to leave.”

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

A Landscape Transformed

Morgan, who has lived in the same house for around 30 years, has not witnessed the land in such a dry state.

“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 largely survived Saturday’s blaze, except for a broken headlight on a car and a container of wood stored for winter that had been reduced to ashes.

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

“The dryness is extreme now. It came from everywhere, and the firefighters pretty much saved it [the property].”

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

“You see people on the news say, ‘The speed was unbelievable’,” he said. “You think it’s over there, and all of a sudden it surrounds 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 “across the coastal region” to assist in the containment effort and had done an “amazing job” saving properties from being destroyed.

She said all agencies had “united” 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 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 anticipated to be impacted by the Pacific Highway blaze on Monday evening. Residents had been urged to leave if not prepared, and prepare a bushfire survival plan.

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

“The forecast is mid 30s with shifting winds, and that has been difficult - wind swirls in the area.”