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As Garry Morgan arrived home on Friday afternoon, his rural mid-north coast property was encircled by a “big plume of smoke”. Less than twenty-four hours later, two houses on his street were destroyed, and the nearby woodland became a scorched landscape.

A Community at the Centre of Tragedy

The community of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has found itself at the heart of a devastating event after a veteran firefighter lost his life on Sunday evening when he was hit by a collapsing tree. This represents a “foreboding start” to the wildfire period.

A total of four homes have been lost in the broader 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,” he said. “My canine companions remained close, 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 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 attempting to quash a fire that had scorched 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Heavy vehicles slowed to observe traffic cones and reduce-speed signs, the charred eucalypts and burnt grass on each side of the highway a stark reminder of how far the fire had burnt through 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 helicopters circling 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 base for around 300 emergency personnel who have come from across the state to help.

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

Personal Accounts from the Fireground

Plumes of smoke were still rising from glowing hotspots on Emu Creek Road, a meandering country road that hugs a creek bed south of the township where two houses were lost.

On a fence post outside a destroyed home, a charred teddy bear remained pinned to the log, complete with a Christmas hat.

Nearby, Morgan sat on his porch with his two dogs, a small area of green surrounding his house the only remaining sign of how the landscape used to look. Miraculously, his property was spared, despite his neighbour’s burning to the ground.

He recalled receiving a call from a friend at lunchtime on Saturday, warning him “you have roughly 30 minutes 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 have I gotten into’,” he said. “But I refused to leave.”

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

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. “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, except for a broken headlight 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.

“The dryness is extreme now. It came from everywhere, and the firies essentially protected it [the property].”

This was not a novel situation for Curley, who came close to losing his home in Wattle Grove when fires swept 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's upon you. I know what it’s like. 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 various services had come from “across the coastal region” to assist in the firefighting operation and had done an “outstanding job” saving properties 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 open and close a few times, the fire jump backwards and forwards. It’s still not contained, it will continue to grow.”

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

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

“The forecast is mid 30s with shifting winds, and that’s been challenge - wind changes direction in the area.”