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When a local resident arrived home on the end of the week, his rural mid-north coast property was surrounded by a massive cloud of smoke. Less than twenty-four hours later, a pair of homes on his street were consumed, and the nearby woodland was transformed into a scorched landscape.

A Community at the Centre of Tragedy

The township of Bulahdelah, around 235km north of Sydney, has become at the centre of a devastating event after a veteran firefighter died on Sunday evening when he was struck by a collapsing tree. This signals a ominous beginning to the wildfire period.

A total of four homes have been lost in the wider Bulahdelah area, including two on Emu Creek Road, where Morgan lives, one on the Pacific Highway and one south of the township.

“No words can express it,” Morgan stated. “The dogs didn’t leave my side, it was terrifying.”

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a popular stopover 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 covered by thick, orange smoke. Aircraft conducting water drops hovered overhead, assisting firefighters on the ground who were battling a fire that had burnt 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Passing trucks reduced speed for traffic cones and warning signs, the scorched trees and burnt grass on each side of the highway proof of how far the fire had ravaged 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 helicopters circling overhead and scent of burning 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 emergency personnel who have travelled from across the state to help.

On Monday afternoon, water bottles 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.

First-Hand Stories from the Blaze

Billows of smoke were continuing to emit 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 fence post outside a burnt property, a scorched stuffed toy remained pinned to the log, complete with a Christmas hat.

Nearby, 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 saved, despite his neighbour’s burning to the ground.

He remembered receiving a call from a friend at lunchtime on Saturday, telling him “you have roughly 30 minutes and then a blaze will arrive”. His prediction was accurate.

“We doused the buildings and shed down, wet the perimeter,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “panic”. “I thought, ‘this is overwhelming’,” he said. “But I refused to leave.”

Fortunately, firefighters surrounded the house, and succeeded in defending it. The bushfire passed over in about half an hour, sounding like “a roaring inferno”.

A Landscape Transformed

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

“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 caring for 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’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.

“The dryness is extreme now. The fire approached from all directions, and the firefighters essentially protected it [the property].”

This was not a novel situation for Curley, who came close to losing his home in Wattle Grove when fires came through in 2019.

“You hear reports 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 just get out, 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 “across the coastal region” to help with the containment effort and had done an “amazing job” protecting houses from being destroyed.

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

“The firefighting community is a close-knit group,” she said. “But we’re definitely not out of the woods yet.

“There have been instances of the Pacific Highway closing and reopening a few times, the fire spot across the road. 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 expected to be hit by the highway fire on Monday evening. Authorities advised locals 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 has been difficult - wind swirls in the area.”