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When a local resident returned to his property on the end of the week, his home on the coastal fringe was surrounded by a dense smoke column. Less than twenty-four hours later, two dwellings on his street would be lost, and the nearby woodland was transformed into charred remnants.

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 lost his life on Sunday evening when he was struck by a falling tree. This signals a ominous beginning to the bushfire season.

Four properties have been lost 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.

“No words can express it,” Morgan stated. “My dogs stayed right by me, it was frightening.”

Landscapes of Loss and Fortitude

Bulahdelah is a popular stopover on the Pacific Highway for travelers on their way up the mid-north coast to coastal destinations such as Seal Rocks, Forster and Port Macquarie.

On Monday afternoon, the highway south of town was covered by dense, ochre-hazed smoke. Water-bombing helicopters circled above, assisting firefighters on the ground who were battling a blaze that had consumed 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Transport vehicles slowed to observe traffic cones and warning signs, the scorched trees and ash-covered ground 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' alert level on Monday evening.

A Hub of Emergency Response

In Bulahdelah, though, it would appear as 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 emergency personnel who have come from across the state to help.

On Monday afternoon, cartons 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

Billows of smoke were continuing to emit from spots of embers 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 charred teddy bear remained attached to the log, complete with a Christmas hat.

Down the road, Morgan sat on his porch with his two dogs, a small area of green surrounding his house the sole remnant 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, warning him “you’ve got about half an hour 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 “panic”. “I thought, ‘this is overwhelming’,” he said. “But I refused to leave.”

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

An Environment Altered

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. “This intensity is new. But you must accept the challenges with the rewards.”

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 broken headlight on a car and a container of wood stored for winter that had burnt to ash.

“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 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 see people on the news say, ‘The speed was unbelievable’,” he said. “It seems distant, and all of a sudden 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, spokesperson for the NSW Rural Fire Service, said crews from multiple agencies had come from “right up and down the coast” to help with the containment effort and had done an “outstanding job” protecting houses 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 closing and reopening a few times, the fire spot across the road. It’s still not contained, it is expected to spread.”

Channon said work in the immediate future would center on the small community of Nerong, which was expected to be hit by the highway fire on Monday evening. Authorities advised locals to evacuate if unprepared, and have a fire plan.

“Spot fires are igniting from lightning strikes a few days ago,” she said.

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