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As a local resident returned to his property 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 nearby woodland would be reduced to blackened skeletal remains.

A Community at the Centre of Tragedy

The community of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has become at the centre of a tragedy after a experienced firefighter lost his life on Sunday evening when he was hit by a collapsing tree. This marks a “foreboding start” to the wildfire period.

Four structures have been destroyed in the broader Bulahdelah area, comprising two on Emu Creek Road, where Morgan lives, one on the Pacific Highway and one south of the township.

“It's beyond description,” Morgan stated. “The dogs didn’t leave my side, it was frightening.”

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a common pause on the Pacific Highway for tourists on their way up the mid-north coast 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 firefighters on the ground who were working to contain a fire that had burnt 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Transport vehicles reduced speed for traffic cones and reduce-speed signs, the charred eucalypts and charred grass on each side of the highway evidence of how far the fire had burnt 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 a typical day if not for the helicopters circling overhead and acrid odor hanging in the atmosphere.

A refuelling station for aircraft has been set up at the town’s showground, turning it into a central point for around 300 emergency personnel who have travelled 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 estimated that they needed a bottle of water every 20 minutes when on the active fire ground.

Personal Accounts from the Fireground

Clouds of smoke were continuing to emit from glowing hotspots 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 scorched stuffed toy remained pinned to the log, still wearing a Christmas hat.

Further along, Morgan was on his veranda with his two dogs, a small area of green 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 remembered receiving a call from a friend at lunchtime on Saturday, warning him “you’ve got about half an hour and then a blaze will arrive”. His estimate was spot on.

“We sprayed the house and shed down, sprayed the fence line,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “panic”. “I thought, ‘what the hell have I got myself into’,” he said. “But I refused to leave.”

Thankfully, crews protected the home, and succeeded in defending it. The bushfire passed over in about half an hour, sounding like “a roaring flame”.

An Environment Altered

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’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 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. “A few years ago a fire almost reached a local 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 firies 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, ‘The speed was unbelievable’,” he said. “It seems distant, and suddenly it surrounds you. I understand the feeling. 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 help with the firefighting operation and had done an “amazing job” saving properties 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. “However, the danger is not over.

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

Channon said work in the immediate future would focus on the small community of Nerong, which was anticipated to be impacted by the highway fire on Monday evening. Residents had been urged to leave if not prepared, and prepare a bushfire survival plan.

“Small blazes are igniting from lightning strikes a few days ago,” she said.

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