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As a local resident returned to his property on the end of the week, his home on the coastal fringe was encircled by a “big plume of smoke”. Less than twenty-four hours later, two dwellings on his street would be lost, and the nearby woodland was transformed into blackened skeletal remains.

A Town Grappling with Loss

The community of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has become at the centre of a tragedy after a veteran firefighter lost his life on Sunday evening when he was hit by a falling tree. This marks a ominous beginning to the wildfire period.

Four properties have been destroyed in the broader 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 frightening.”

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a frequent rest stop on the Pacific Highway for holidaymakers 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 covered by dense, ochre-hazed smoke. Water-bombing helicopters circled above, aiding firefighters on the ground who were working to contain a blaze that had burnt 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Passing trucks slowed to observe traffic cones and reduce-speed signs, the charred eucalypts 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 level on Monday evening.

A Hub of Emergency Response

In Bulahdelah, though, it would appear as another ordinary day if not for the helicopters circling overhead and smell of smoke hanging in the atmosphere.

A refueling point for aircraft has been set up at the town’s showground, converting it into a hub for around 300 emergency personnel who have travelled from across the state to help.

On Monday afternoon, supplies of water 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 frontline.

Personal Accounts from the Fireground

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 destroyed home, a charred teddy bear remained pinned to the log, still wearing 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 landscape used to look. Miraculously, his property was spared, despite his neighbor's home burning to the ground.

He recalled receiving a call from a friend at lunchtime on Saturday, telling him “you have roughly 30 minutes and then a fire’s going to hit”. His prediction was accurate.

“We sprayed the house 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, firefighters surrounded the house, and succeeded in defending it. The bushfire passed over in about half an hour, with a sound resembling “a roaring flame”.

A Landscape Transformed

Morgan, who has resided at the same house for around 30 years, has not witnessed the land in such a dry state.

“We used to get 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 broken headlight on a car and a barrel of firewood stored for winter that had burnt to ash.

“I’ve been here many, many times,” he said. “Previously a fire almost approached a nearby ridge and that was quite frightening then, but the wind changed.

“The dryness is extreme now. Flames emerged on all sides, and the firies essentially protected it [the property].”

This was not a novel situation for Curley, who nearly lost his home in Wattle Grove when fires swept through in 2019.

“You hear reports say, ‘I can’t believe how fast it came’,” he said. “It seems distant, and suddenly it’s on top of you. I understand the feeling. I told my friend to evacuate immediately, and he did.”

Fire Service Update and Continuing Danger

Kirsty Channon, spokesperson 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 “outstanding job” saving properties from being destroyed.

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

“Firefighters is a close-knit group,” 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 spot across the road. It remains uncontained, 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 Pacific Highway blaze on Monday evening. Authorities advised locals to leave if not prepared, and prepare a bushfire survival plan.

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

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