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When a local resident returned to his property on the end of the week, his home on the coastal fringe was surrounded by a massive cloud of smoke. Within twenty-four hours later, two dwellings on his street would be lost, and the adjacent bushland was transformed into 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 long-serving firefighter lost his life on Sunday evening when he was hit by a collapsing tree. This signals a ominous beginning to the bushfire season.

Four structures have been lost in the broader 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,” he said. “My dogs stayed right by me, it was terrifying.”

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a frequent rest stop on the Pacific Highway for travelers journeying up the coastal region to beach areas such as Seal Rocks, Forster and Port Macquarie.

On Monday afternoon, the highway south of town was covered by thick, orange smoke. Aircraft conducting water drops circled above, assisting ground crews who were battling a fire that had scorched 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 was still 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 helicopters circling overhead and scent of burning hanging in the atmosphere.

A refuelling station for aircraft has been established at the town’s showground, turning it into a base for around 300 firefighters and volunteers who have travelled from across the state to help.

On Monday afternoon, water bottles 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.

Personal Accounts from the Fireground

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 fence post outside a destroyed home, a charred teddy bear remained pinned to the log, complete with a Christmas hat.

Nearby, Morgan sat on his porch 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 saved, despite his neighbor's home burning to the ground.

He recalled receiving a call from a friend at lunchtime on Saturday, telling him “you’ve got about half an hour and then a blaze will arrive”. His prediction was accurate.

“We sprayed the house and shed down, sprayed the fence line,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “panic”. “I said to myself, ‘this is overwhelming’,” he said. “But I refused to leave.”

Thankfully, 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.

“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, other than a broken headlight on a car and a barrel of firewood 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 approached a nearby ridge and that was quite frightening then, but the wind changed.

“The dryness is extreme now. The fire approached from all directions, and the firies essentially protected it [the property].”

This was not a novel situation 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, ‘The speed was unbelievable’,” he said. “You think it’s over there, and suddenly it’s on top of you. I know what it’s like. 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 containment effort and had done an “outstanding 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. “But we’re definitely not out of the woods yet.

“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 focus on the tiny township of Nerong, which was anticipated to be impacted by the Pacific Highway blaze on Monday evening. Authorities advised locals to leave if not prepared, and have a fire plan.

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

“The forecast is mid 30s with shifting winds, and that has been difficult - wind changes direction in the area.”