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As Garry Morgan returned to his property on Friday afternoon, his home on the coastal fringe was enveloped in a massive cloud of smoke. Within twenty-four hours later, two houses on his street were consumed, and the surrounding forest became blackened skeletal remains.

A Community at the Centre of Tragedy

The township of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has found itself at the heart of a tragedy after a long-serving firefighter died on Sunday evening when he was hit by a falling tree. This marks a ominous beginning to the fire season.

Four structures have been destroyed in the wider 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.”

Landscapes of Loss and Fortitude

Bulahdelah is a popular stopover on the Pacific Highway for tourists 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 blanketed in thick, orange smoke. Water-bombing helicopters circled above, aiding firefighters on the ground who were working to contain a blaze that had consumed 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Transport vehicles slowed to observe road markers and reduce-speed signs, the blackened gum trees and ash-covered ground on each side of the highway evidence of how far the fire had burnt through the adjacent Myall Lakes national park. It remained 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 aircraft overhead and scent of burning lingering in the air.

A refueling point for aircraft has been established 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, water bottles were being offloaded from trucks and lollies were being packaged into zip lock bags. One firefighter estimated that they needed a bottle of water every 20 minutes when on the frontline.

First-Hand Stories from the Blaze

Billows of smoke were still rising from smoldering patches 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 burnt property, a charred teddy bear remained attached to the log, still wearing a Christmas hat.

Nearby, Morgan sat on his porch with his two dogs, a little patch of grass surrounding his house the only remaining sign of how the landscape used to look. Against the odds, his property was saved, despite his neighbor's home 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 fire’s going to hit”. His timing was precise.

“We hosed down the property and shed down, sprayed the fence line,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “alarm”. “I thought, ‘what have I gotten into’,” he said. “But I wasn’t leaving.”

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

A Landscape Transformed

Morgan, who has lived in the same house for around 30 years, has never seen the land this parched.

“We used to get rain every week,” he said. “We’ve never had fires like this. 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 largely survived Saturday’s blaze, other than a damaged light on a car and a barrel of firewood stored for winter that had burnt to ash.

“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. The fire approached from all directions, 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, ‘I can’t believe how fast it came’,” he said. “It seems distant, and suddenly 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 “right up and down the coast” to assist in the firefighting operation and had done an “incredible work” protecting houses 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 closing and reopening a few times, the fire spot across the road. It’s still not contained, it will continue to grow.”

Channon said efforts in the coming hours would focus on the tiny township 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 popping up from lightning strikes a few days ago,” she said.

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