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When a local resident arrived home on Friday afternoon, his home on the coastal fringe was encircled by a dense smoke column. Within twenty-four hours later, two dwellings on his street were consumed, and the surrounding forest was transformed into blackened skeletal remains.

A Community at the Centre of Tragedy

The township of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has become at the centre of a devastating event after a experienced firefighter lost his life on Sunday evening when he was struck by a falling tree. This represents a worrying commencement to the wildfire period.

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

“Words fail to capture it,” he said. “My canine companions remained close, the fear was palpable.”

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a popular stopover on the Pacific Highway for travelers journeying 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 hovered overhead, assisting ground crews who were attempting to quash a blaze that had burnt 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Heavy vehicles reduced speed for road markers and reduce-speed signs, the blackened gum trees and charred grass on each side of the highway evidence of how far the fire had swept through 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 appear as a typical day if not for the helicopters circling overhead and acrid odor lingering in the air.

A refuelling station for aircraft has been set up at the town’s showground, transforming it into a central point for around 300 emergency personnel who have come from across the state to help.

On Monday afternoon, water bottles were being offloaded 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

Clouds of smoke were still rising from spots of embers on Emu Creek Road, a meandering country road 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, still wearing a Christmas hat.

Down the road, Morgan sat on his porch with his two dogs, a small area of green surrounding his house the only remaining sign of how the landscape used to look. Against the odds, his property was spared, despite his neighbor's home 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 hosed down the property and shed down, sprayed the fence line,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “panic”. “I thought, ‘what have I gotten into’,” he said. “I decided to stay.”

Fortunately, crews protected the home, and succeeded in defending it. The bushfire passed over in about half an hour, with a sound resembling “a roaring inferno”.

An Environment Altered

Morgan, who has resided at the same house for around 30 years, has not witnessed 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 caring for his friend’s property which had also mostly been spared 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 pretty scary 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 nearly lost 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. “It seems distant, and suddenly it surrounds you. I understand the feeling. I told my friend to just get out, and he did.”

Official Response and Ongoing Threat

Kirsty Channon, spokesperson for the NSW Rural Fire Service, said crews from various services had come from “across the coastal region” to assist in the containment effort and had done an “amazing job” protecting houses from being destroyed.

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

“Firefighters is a close-knit group,” 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’s still not contained, it is expected to spread.”

Channon said efforts in the coming hours would center on the small community of Nerong, which was expected to be hit by the highway fire on Monday evening. Residents had been urged to leave if not prepared, and have a fire plan.

“Spot fires are popping up from storm activity a few days ago,” she said.

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