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As a local resident 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, two houses on his street were destroyed, and the adjacent bushland was transformed into charred remnants.

A Town Grappling with Loss

The community of Bulahdelah, around 235km north of Sydney, has found itself at the heart of a devastating event 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 wildfire period.

A total of four homes have been destroyed in the broader Bulahdelah area, comprising 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,” he said. “My canine companions remained close, it was frightening.”

Landscapes of Loss and Fortitude

Bulahdelah is a popular stopover on the Pacific Highway for holidaymakers journeying 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 dense, ochre-hazed smoke. Helicopters circled above, aiding firefighters on the ground who were attempting to quash a blaze that had consumed 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Passing trucks reduced speed for road markers and warning signs, the scorched trees and ash-covered ground on each side of the highway evidence of how far the fire had swept through the adjacent Myall Lakes national park. It remained at a watch and act level on Monday evening.

The Nerve Centre for Firefighting

In Bulahdelah, though, it would appear as another ordinary day if not for the aircraft overhead and smell of smoke hanging in the atmosphere.

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

On Monday afternoon, water bottles were being offloaded 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.

First-Hand Stories from the Blaze

Billows of smoke were still rising from smoldering patches on Emu Creek Road, a meandering country road that follows 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, still wearing 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 landscape used to look. Miraculously, his property was saved, despite his neighbour’s burning to the ground.

He recalled receiving a call from a friend at lunchtime on Saturday, telling him “you have roughly 30 minutes and then a blaze will arrive”. His prediction was accurate.

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

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

A Landscape Transformed

Morgan, who has resided at the same house for around 30 years, has never seen 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 broken headlight on a car and a barrel of firewood stored for winter that had been reduced to ashes.

“I am very familiar with this area,” he said. “A few years ago a fire almost approached a nearby ridge and that was pretty scary then, but the wind changed.

“The dryness is extreme now. Flames emerged on all sides, and the firefighters essentially protected it [the property].”

This was not a novel situation for Curley, who nearly lost 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 suddenly it’s on top of you. I understand the feeling. I told my friend to just get out, 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 help with the firefighting operation and had done an “amazing job” protecting houses from being destroyed.

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

“The firefighting community is one big family,” 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’s still not contained, it will continue to grow.”

Channon said work in the immediate future would center on the tiny township 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.

“Small blazes are starting from lightning strikes a few days ago,” she said.

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