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As a local resident returned to his property on Friday afternoon, his home on the coastal fringe was surrounded by a dense smoke column. Less than twenty-four hours later, two houses on his street were consumed, and the nearby woodland was transformed into charred remnants.

A Town Grappling with Loss

The township of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has found itself at the heart of a tragedy after a veteran firefighter lost his life on Sunday evening when he was hit by a collapsing tree. This signals a “foreboding start” to the fire season.

A total of four homes 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.

“It's beyond description,” Morgan stated. “The dogs didn’t leave my side, it was terrifying.”

Landscapes of Loss and Fortitude

Bulahdelah is a popular stopover on the Pacific Highway for travelers 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. Helicopters circled above, assisting ground crews who were battling 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 ash-covered ground 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.

The Nerve Centre for Firefighting

In Bulahdelah, though, it would appear as a typical day if not for the helicopters circling overhead and scent of burning lingering in the air.

A fuel depot for aircraft has been set up at the town’s showground, transforming it into a base for around 300 firefighters and volunteers who have come from across the state to help.

On Monday afternoon, water bottles were being unloaded from trucks and sweets were being packed 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 winding rural street that follows 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 attached to the log, still wearing a Christmas hat.

Nearby, 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 recalled receiving a call from a friend at lunchtime on Saturday, warning him “you’ve got about half an hour and then a blaze will arrive”. His estimate was spot on.

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

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

A Landscape Transformed

Morgan, who has resided at the same house for around 30 years, has never seen the land so dry.

“It once rained 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 looking after his friend’s property which had also mostly been spared Saturday’s blaze, other than a broken headlight on a car and a container of wood 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 reached a local ridge and that was quite frightening then, but the wind changed.

“The dryness is extreme now. It came from everywhere, and the firies pretty much saved 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's upon you. I understand the feeling. I told my friend to evacuate immediately, and he did.”

Official Response and Ongoing Threat

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 containment effort and had done an “outstanding job” protecting houses from being destroyed.

She said all agencies had “pulled together” 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 closing and reopening a few times, the fire jump backwards and forwards. It’s still not contained, it is expected to spread.”

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 igniting from lightning strikes a few days ago,” she said.

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