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As a local resident arrived home on Friday afternoon, his home on the coastal fringe was encircled by a massive cloud of smoke. Less than twenty-four hours later, a pair of homes on his street were consumed, and the surrounding forest would be reduced to blackened skeletal remains.

A Community at the Centre of Tragedy

The community of Bulahdelah, around 235km north of Sydney, has found itself at the heart of a devastating event after a long-serving firefighter died 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 lost in the wider 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. “My dogs stayed right by me, the fear was palpable.”

Landscapes of Loss and Fortitude

Bulahdelah is a frequent rest stop on the Pacific Highway for travelers 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 covered by thick, orange smoke. Water-bombing helicopters circled above, aiding firefighters on the ground who were attempting to quash a fire that had consumed 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Heavy vehicles reduced speed for traffic cones and reduce-speed signs, the scorched trees 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 level on Monday evening.

A Hub of Emergency Response

In Bulahdelah, though, it would seem like a typical day if not for the aircraft overhead and acrid odor hanging in the atmosphere.

A refuelling station for aircraft has been established at the town’s showground, turning it into a central point 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 lollies were being packaged into zip lock bags. One firefighter noted 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 winding rural street 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 was on his veranda with his two dogs, a little patch of grass surrounding his house the only remaining sign of how the landscape used to look. 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 have roughly 30 minutes and then a blaze will arrive”. His estimate was spot on.

“We doused the buildings and shed down, sprayed the fence line,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “panic”. “I thought, ‘this is overwhelming’,” he said. “But I wasn’t leaving.”

Fortunately, crews protected the home, and succeeded in defending it. The bushfire passed over in about half an hour, with a sound resembling “a thunderous blaze”.

An Environment Altered

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. “This intensity is new. But you must accept the challenges with the rewards.”

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 damaged light 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 approached a nearby 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 firefighters pretty much saved it [the property].”

This experience wasn’t new for Curley, who nearly lost his home in Wattle Grove when fires came through in 2019.

“You hear reports say, ‘I can’t believe how fast it came’,” he said. “It seems distant, and all of a sudden it surrounds 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, public information officer for the NSW Rural Fire Service, said crews from various services had come from “right up and down the coast” to help with the firefighting operation and had done an “amazing job” protecting houses from being destroyed.

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

“The firefighting community is one big family,” she said. “The threat persists.

“There have been instances of the Pacific Highway open and close a few times, the fire spot across the road. It remains uncontained, it will continue to grow.”

Channon said work in the immediate future would center on the tiny township of Nerong, which was anticipated to be impacted by the Pacific Highway blaze on Monday evening. Residents had been urged to leave if not prepared, and prepare a bushfire survival plan.

“Small blazes 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 swirls in the area.”