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As Garry Morgan arrived home on Friday afternoon, his rural mid-north coast property was encircled by a dense smoke column. Within twenty-four hours later, two houses on his street were destroyed, and the adjacent bushland became a scorched landscape.

A Town Grappling with Loss

The township of Bulahdelah, around 235km north of Sydney, has found itself at the heart of a tragedy after a experienced firefighter died on Sunday evening when he was struck by a falling tree. This signals a worrying commencement 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.

“It's beyond description,” he said. “The dogs didn’t leave my side, it was frightening.”

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a common pause on the Pacific Highway for travelers 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 shrouded in dense, ochre-hazed smoke. Water-bombing helicopters hovered overhead, assisting firefighters on the ground who were attempting to quash a blaze that had burnt 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Passing trucks slowed to observe traffic cones and reduce-speed signs, the blackened gum trees and burnt grass on each side of the highway proof of how far the fire had burnt through 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 another ordinary 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 central point for around 300 fire crews and volunteers who have travelled from across the state to help.

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

First-Hand Stories from the Blaze

Clouds 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 scorched stuffed toy remained pinned to the log, still wearing a Christmas hat.

Further along, Morgan was on his veranda 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 remembered receiving a call from a friend at lunchtime on Saturday, warning him “you’ve got about half an hour and then a blaze will arrive”. 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, ‘what the hell have I got myself into’,” he said. “But I refused to leave.”

Fortunately, firefighters surrounded the house, and succeeded in defending it. The bushfire moved through in about half an hour, with a sound resembling “a thunderous blaze”.

A Landscape Transformed

Morgan, who has lived in the same house for around 30 years, has never seen the land in such a dry state.

“It once rained 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 caring for his friend’s property which had also largely survived 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 conditions are far more arid now. Flames emerged on all sides, and the firies pretty much saved it [the property].”

This experience wasn’t new 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 all of a sudden 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 “pulled together” 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 closing and reopening a few times, the fire jump backwards and forwards. It remains uncontained, it will continue to grow.”

Channon said efforts in the coming hours would center on the tiny township of Nerong, which was expected to be hit by the highway fire on Monday evening. Residents had been urged to leave if not prepared, and prepare a bushfire survival plan.

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

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