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As a local resident returned to his property on the end of the week, his rural mid-north coast property was surrounded by a dense smoke column. Less than twenty-four hours later, a pair of homes on his street were consumed, and the nearby woodland became a scorched landscape.

A Community at the Centre of Tragedy

The township of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has become at the centre of a devastating event after a experienced firefighter died on Sunday evening when he was hit by a collapsing tree. This marks a ominous beginning to the bushfire season.

A total of four homes 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.

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

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a frequent rest stop 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. Aircraft conducting water drops circled above, assisting ground crews who were attempting to quash a blaze that had consumed 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Passing trucks reduced speed for traffic cones and reduce-speed signs, the blackened gum trees and charred grass on each side of the highway proof 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.

A Hub of Emergency Response

In Bulahdelah, though, it would seem like another ordinary day if not for the aircraft overhead and smell of smoke lingering in the air.

A refueling point for aircraft has been established at the town’s showground, converting it into a base for around 300 emergency personnel who have travelled from across the state to help.

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

First-Hand Stories from the Blaze

Clouds of smoke were continuing to emit from glowing hotspots on Emu Creek Road, a winding rural street that follows a creek bed south of the township where two houses were lost.

On a fence post outside a burnt property, a scorched stuffed toy remained attached to the log, complete with a Christmas hat.

Down the road, Morgan was on his veranda with his two dogs, a little patch of grass surrounding his house the sole remnant of how the area once appeared. Against the odds, his property was spared, despite his neighbour’s burning to the ground.

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

“We sprayed the house and shed down, wet the perimeter,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “alarm”. “I said to myself, ‘what have I gotten into’,” he said. “But I refused to leave.”

Thankfully, crews protected the home, and managed to save it. The bushfire moved through in about half an hour, with a sound resembling “a roaring inferno”.

A Landscape Transformed

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

“We used to get rain every week,” he said. “We’ve never had fires like this. 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 am very familiar with this area,” he said. “Previously a fire almost approached a nearby ridge and that was quite frightening 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, ‘I can’t believe how fast it came’,” he said. “It seems distant, 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.”

Official Response and Ongoing Threat

Kirsty Channon, public information officer for the NSW Rural Fire Service, said crews from multiple agencies had come from “across the coastal region” to help with the containment effort and had done an “incredible work” saving properties from being destroyed.

She said all agencies had “pulled together” 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 closing and reopening a few times, the fire jump backwards and forwards. It remains uncontained, it is expected to spread.”

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 leave if not prepared, and have a fire plan.

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

“Tomorrow’s weather is the mid-thirties with shifting winds, and that’s been challenge - wind swirls in the area.”