🔗 Share this article

When a local resident returned to his property on the end of the week, his rural mid-north coast property was enveloped in a “big plume of smoke”. Less than twenty-four hours later, a pair of homes on his street were consumed, and the adjacent bushland would be reduced to charred remnants.

A Community at the Centre of Tragedy

The community of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has found itself at the heart of a tragedy after a veteran firefighter died on Sunday evening when he was struck by a falling tree. This marks a worrying commencement to the bushfire season.

Four structures have been lost 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. “My dogs stayed right by me, it was terrifying.”

Landscapes of Loss and Fortitude

Bulahdelah is a common pause on the Pacific Highway for holidaymakers 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 shrouded in dense, ochre-hazed smoke. Aircraft conducting water drops circled above, aiding ground crews who were battling a fire that had consumed 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Transport vehicles reduced speed for traffic cones and reduce-speed signs, the blackened gum trees and charred grass on each side of the highway a stark reminder 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.

The Nerve Centre for Firefighting

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

A fuel depot for aircraft has been established at the town’s showground, transforming it into a base for around 300 emergency personnel who have come from across the state to help.

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

First-Hand Stories from the Blaze

Clouds of smoke were still rising from spots of embers 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.

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

He remembered 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 thought, ‘what have I gotten into’,” he said. “I decided to stay.”

Fortunately, firefighters surrounded the house, 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.

“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 largely survived Saturday’s blaze, except for a broken headlight on a car and a container of wood stored for winter that had burnt to ash.

“I’ve been here many, many times,” he said. “Previously a fire almost approached a nearby ridge and that was pretty scary then, but the wind changed.

“The dryness is extreme now. The fire approached from all directions, and the firefighters pretty much saved 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. “It seems distant, and suddenly it’s on top of you. I understand the feeling. 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 various services had come from “right up and down the coast” to assist in the firefighting operation and had done an “outstanding job” protecting houses from being destroyed.

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

“Firefighters is one big family,” she said. “However, the danger is not over.

“We’ve seen the Pacific Highway open and close a few times, the fire spot across the road. It’s still not contained, it is expected to spread.”

Channon said efforts in the coming hours would center on the small community 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 have a fire plan.

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

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