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When Garry Morgan arrived home on the end of the week, his home on the coastal fringe was surrounded by a dense smoke column. Within twenty-four hours later, two dwellings on his street were consumed, and the nearby woodland 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 experienced firefighter lost his life on Sunday evening when he was struck by a falling tree. This marks a “foreboding start” to the fire season.

Four properties 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.

“Words fail to capture it,” he said. “My dogs stayed right by me, it was terrifying.”

Landscapes of Loss and Fortitude

Bulahdelah is a frequent rest stop on the Pacific Highway for holidaymakers 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 blanketed in dense, ochre-hazed smoke. Helicopters hovered overhead, assisting firefighters on the ground who were attempting to quash a fire that had scorched 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Passing trucks slowed to observe traffic cones and warning signs, the scorched trees and burnt grass on each side of the highway evidence of how far the fire had burnt 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 a typical day if not for the aircraft overhead and smell of smoke lingering in the air.

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

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

Personal Accounts from the Fireground

Billows 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 boundary post outside a destroyed home, a charred teddy bear remained attached to the log, complete with a Christmas hat.

Further along, Morgan was on his veranda with his two dogs, a little patch of grass surrounding his house the only remaining sign of how the area once appeared. Against the odds, his property was spared, despite his neighbour’s 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 fire’s going to hit”. His estimate was spot on.

“We hosed down the property and shed down, wet the perimeter,” 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 managed to save it. The bushfire passed over in about half an hour, with a sound resembling “a thunderous blaze”.

A Landscape Transformed

Morgan, who has resided at the same house for around 30 years, has not witnessed the land so dry.

“We used to get 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 looking after his friend’s property which had also largely survived Saturday’s blaze, except for a damaged light on a car and a barrel of firewood stored for winter that had been reduced to ashes.

“I am very familiar with this area,” 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. Flames emerged on all sides, 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 came 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 all of a sudden 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, public information officer 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 death of one of their own.

“Firefighters is one big family,” she said. “But we’re definitely not out of the woods yet.

“We’ve seen the Pacific Highway closing and reopening a few times, the fire jump backwards and forwards. It’s still not contained, it is expected to spread.”

Channon said efforts in the coming hours would focus on the tiny township of Nerong, which was anticipated to be impacted by the highway fire on Monday evening. Authorities advised locals to evacuate if unprepared, and have a fire plan.

“Little fires are igniting 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 changes direction in the area.”