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When Garry Morgan arrived home on Friday afternoon, his rural mid-north coast property was enveloped in a massive cloud of smoke. Within twenty-four hours later, two dwellings on his street were consumed, and the surrounding forest 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 tragedy after a veteran firefighter lost his life on Sunday evening when he was struck by a collapsing tree. This signals a ominous beginning to the wildfire period.

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.

“Words fail to capture it,” he said. “My dogs stayed right by me, it was frightening.”

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a common pause 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 blanketed in dense, ochre-hazed smoke. Helicopters circled above, aiding ground crews who were attempting to quash a fire that had consumed 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Passing trucks slowed to observe road markers and reduce-speed signs, the charred eucalypts and burnt grass on each side of the highway evidence 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.

A Hub of Emergency Response

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

A refuelling station for aircraft has been established at the town’s showground, converting it into a hub for around 300 emergency personnel who have travelled 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 estimated that they needed a water bottle every 20 minutes when on the frontline.

First-Hand Stories from the Blaze

Plumes of smoke were continuing to emit 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 boundary post outside a burnt property, a scorched stuffed toy 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 area once appeared. Against the odds, 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 timing was precise.

“We hosed down the property and shed down, wet the perimeter,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “panic”. “I thought, ‘what have I gotten into’,” he said. “But I wasn’t leaving.”

Fortunately, firefighters surrounded the house, and managed to save it. The bushfire passed over in about half an hour, with a sound resembling “a roaring inferno”.

An Environment Altered

Morgan, who has resided at the same house for around 30 years, has never seen the land this parched.

“It once rained 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, except for a broken headlight on a car and a container of wood stored for winter that had been reduced to ashes.

“I’ve been here many, many times,” he said. “A few years ago a fire almost reached a local ridge and that was quite frightening then, but the wind changed.

“It’s just so much drier this time. It came from everywhere, and the firies essentially protected it [the property].”

This experience wasn’t new 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, ‘I can’t believe how fast it came’,” he said. “You think it’s over there, 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, public information officer for the NSW Rural Fire Service, said crews from multiple agencies had come from “across the coastal region” to assist in the firefighting operation and had done an “incredible work” saving properties from being destroyed.

She said all agencies had “pulled together” after the death of one of their own.

“The firefighting community is one big family,” she said. “However, the danger is not over.

“There have been instances of the Pacific Highway closing and reopening a few times, the fire spot across the road. It remains uncontained, it is expected to spread.”

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

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

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