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When Garry Morgan arrived home on the end of the week, his rural mid-north coast property was encircled by a massive cloud of smoke. Less than twenty-four hours later, two dwellings on his street were consumed, and the surrounding forest became blackened skeletal remains.

A Town Grappling with Loss

The community of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has become at the centre of a devastating event after a veteran firefighter lost his life on Sunday evening when he was struck by a falling tree. This marks a worrying commencement to the bushfire season.

Four structures have been destroyed 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.

“It's beyond description,” he said. “My dogs stayed right by me, the fear was palpable.”

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a popular stopover on the Pacific Highway for tourists 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 shrouded in thick, orange smoke. Helicopters hovered overhead, aiding ground crews who were working to contain a blaze that had scorched 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Transport vehicles slowed to observe road markers and reduce-speed signs, the scorched trees and burnt 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 remained 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 helicopters circling overhead and smell of smoke hanging in the atmosphere.

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

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

Personal Accounts from the Fireground

Clouds of smoke were still rising 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 boundary post outside a burnt property, a charred teddy bear remained attached to the log, complete with a Christmas hat.

Nearby, 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, telling him “you’ve got about half an hour and then a fire’s going to hit”. His estimate was spot on.

“We doused the buildings and shed down, sprayed the fence line,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “alarm”. “I said to myself, ‘what have I gotten into’,” he said. “But I refused to leave.”

Thankfully, firefighters surrounded the house, and succeeded in defending it. The bushfire moved through in about half an hour, sounding like “a thunderous blaze”.

A Landscape Transformed

Morgan, who has resided at the same house for around 30 years, has not witnessed the land in such a dry state.

“We used to get 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 caring for his friend’s property which had also mostly been spared Saturday’s blaze, other than a damaged light 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. “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. The fire approached from all directions, and the firefighters pretty much saved 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 suddenly 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, spokesperson for the NSW Rural Fire Service, said crews from various services had come from “across the coastal region” to assist in the containment effort and had done an “incredible work” saving properties 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. “The threat persists.

“We’ve seen the Pacific Highway open and close a few times, the fire jump backwards and forwards. It’s still not contained, it will continue to grow.”

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. Residents had been urged to evacuate if unprepared, and have a fire plan.

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

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