🔗 Share this article

When a local resident arrived home on the end of the week, his rural mid-north coast property was enveloped in a massive cloud of smoke. Within twenty-four hours later, two houses on his street were consumed, and the adjacent bushland became a scorched landscape.

A Town Grappling with Loss

The community of Bulahdelah, around 235km north of Sydney, has found itself at the heart of a devastating event after a experienced firefighter died on Sunday evening when he was struck by a falling tree. This signals a ominous beginning 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,” Morgan stated. “The dogs didn’t leave my side, it was terrifying.”

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 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. Water-bombing helicopters hovered overhead, aiding firefighters on the ground who were battling a blaze that had consumed 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Passing trucks reduced speed for traffic cones and reduce-speed signs, the blackened gum trees and burnt grass on each side of the highway a stark reminder 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.

A Hub of Emergency Response

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 refuelling station for aircraft has been set up at the town’s showground, converting 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 sweets were being packed into zip lock bags. One firefighter estimated that they needed a bottle of water every 20 minutes when on the fire line.

Personal Accounts from the Fireground

Plumes of smoke were continuing to emit from spots of embers 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 burnt property, 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 small area of green surrounding his house the sole remnant of how the landscape used to look. Against the odds, his property was saved, despite his neighbour’s burning to the ground.

He recalled 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 prediction was accurate.

“We doused the buildings and shed down, sprayed the fence line,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “alarm”. “I thought, ‘what the hell have I got myself into’,” he said. “But I wasn’t leaving.”

Thankfully, crews protected the home, and succeeded in defending it. The bushfire moved through in about half an hour, with a sound resembling “a thunderous blaze”.

An Environment Altered

Morgan, who has resided at the same house for around 30 years, has never seen the land in such a dry state.

“It once rained 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 looking after his friend’s property which had also mostly been spared 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 approached a nearby ridge and that was pretty scary then, but the wind changed.

“It’s just so much drier this time. It came from everywhere, and the firies essentially protected 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 hear reports say, ‘The speed was unbelievable’,” he said. “You think it’s over there, and all of a sudden it surrounds you. I understand the feeling. I told my friend to just get out, and he did.”

Fire Service Update and Continuing Danger

Kirsty Channon, spokesperson for the NSW Rural Fire Service, said crews from multiple agencies had come from “across the coastal region” to assist in 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 a close-knit group,” 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 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 leave if not prepared, and prepare a bushfire survival plan.

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

“The forecast is mid 30s with variable wind, and that has been difficult - wind changes direction in the area.”