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When Garry Morgan arrived home on the end of the week, his rural mid-north coast property was enveloped in a dense smoke column. Less than twenty-four hours later, two dwellings on his street would be lost, and the adjacent bushland would be reduced to a scorched landscape.

A Town Grappling with Loss

The township of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has found itself at the heart of a devastating event after a veteran firefighter lost his life on Sunday evening when he was hit by a collapsing tree. This represents a worrying commencement to the bushfire season.

Four structures have been destroyed 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.

“No words can express it,” Morgan stated. “My canine companions remained close, it was frightening.”

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a frequent rest stop on the Pacific Highway for tourists on their way up the mid-north coast to coastal destinations such as Seal Rocks, Forster and Port Macquarie.

On Monday afternoon, the highway south of town was shrouded in dense, ochre-hazed smoke. Helicopters circled above, assisting firefighters on the ground who were working to contain a fire that had burnt 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Transport vehicles reduced speed for road markers and reduce-speed signs, the blackened gum trees and charred grass on each side of the highway proof of how far the fire had ravaged the adjacent Myall Lakes national park. It was still at a 'watch and act' alert level on Monday evening.

The Nerve Centre for Firefighting

In Bulahdelah, though, it would seem like a typical day if not for the aircraft overhead and scent of burning lingering in the air.

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

On Monday afternoon, supplies of water 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 fire line.

Personal Accounts from the Fireground

Billows of smoke were still rising from glowing hotspots on Emu Creek Road, a winding rural street that hugs 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.

Down the road, 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 fire’s going to hit”. 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 said to myself, ‘what have I gotten into’,” he said. “I decided to stay.”

Thankfully, crews protected the home, and managed to save it. The bushfire passed over in about half an hour, with a sound resembling “a roaring flame”.

A Landscape Transformed

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

“It once rained rain every week,” he said. “We’ve never had fires like this. 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 broken headlight 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.

“The conditions are far more arid now. Flames emerged on all sides, and the firefighters essentially protected it [the property].”

This experience wasn’t new for Curley, who came close to losing 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. “You think it’s over there, and all of a sudden it surrounds you. I know what it’s like. I told my friend to evacuate immediately, and he did.”

Official Response and Ongoing Threat

Kirsty Channon, spokesperson for the NSW Rural Fire Service, said crews from multiple agencies 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 “pulled together” after the tragic loss 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’s still not contained, it is expected to spread.”

Channon said work in the immediate future would center on the small community of Nerong, which was anticipated to be impacted by the highway fire on Monday evening. Residents had been urged to evacuate if unprepared, and prepare a bushfire survival plan.

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

“Tomorrow’s weather is mid 30s with shifting winds, and that’s been challenge - wind changes direction in the area.”