🔗 Share this article

When Garry Morgan returned to his property on Friday afternoon, his rural mid-north coast property was encircled by a “big plume of smoke”. Within twenty-four hours later, two dwellings on his street would be lost, and the surrounding forest would be reduced to blackened skeletal remains.

A Town Grappling with Loss

The community of Bulahdelah, around 235km north of Sydney, has become at the centre of a tragedy after a veteran firefighter died on Sunday evening when he was struck by a collapsing tree. This signals a ominous beginning to the fire season.

Four properties 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,” he said. “The dogs didn’t leave my side, it was terrifying.”

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a frequent rest stop on the Pacific Highway for holidaymakers journeying up the coastal region 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. Water-bombing helicopters hovered overhead, aiding firefighters on the ground who were attempting to quash a fire that had consumed 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Transport vehicles reduced speed for road markers and reduce-speed signs, the charred eucalypts and burnt grass on each side of the highway proof of how far the fire had swept through the adjacent Myall Lakes national park. It remained at a watch and act 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 smell of smoke lingering in the air.

A refueling point for aircraft has been set up at the town’s showground, converting it into a central point for around 300 fire crews and volunteers who have come 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 fire line.

First-Hand Stories from the Blaze

Clouds of smoke were continuing to emit 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 boundary post outside a burnt property, a scorched stuffed toy 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 sole remnant of how the landscape used to look. Miraculously, his property was spared, 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 fire’s going to hit”. His estimate was spot on.

“We doused the buildings and shed down, sprayed the fence line,” 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.”

Fortunately, firefighters surrounded the house, and managed to save it. The bushfire moved through in about half an hour, sounding like “a thunderous blaze”.

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 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 am very familiar with this area,” he said. “Previously a fire almost reached a local ridge and that was quite frightening then, but the wind changed.

“The conditions are far more arid now. Flames emerged on all sides, and the firies pretty much saved 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. “You think it’s over there, and all of a sudden it’s on top of you. I know what it’s like. I told my friend to evacuate immediately, and he did.”

Official Response and Ongoing Threat

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 assist in the firefighting operation and had done an “outstanding job” saving properties from being destroyed.

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

“Firefighters is a close-knit group,” she said. “The threat persists.

“There have been instances of the Pacific Highway open and close a few times, the fire spot across the road. 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 expected to be hit by the highway fire on Monday evening. Authorities advised locals to evacuate if unprepared, and have a fire plan.

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

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