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As a local resident arrived home on Friday afternoon, his home on the coastal fringe was encircled by a dense smoke column. Less than twenty-four hours later, two houses on his street would be lost, and the adjacent bushland became a scorched landscape.

A Town Grappling with Loss

The township of Bulahdelah, around 235km north of Sydney, has found itself at the heart of a devastating event after a long-serving firefighter lost his life on Sunday evening when he was struck by a collapsing tree. This represents a ominous beginning to the wildfire period.

Four properties have been lost 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.

“It's beyond description,” he said. “My dogs stayed right by me, it was frightening.”

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a popular stopover on the Pacific Highway for holidaymakers journeying up the coastal region to coastal destinations such as Seal Rocks, Forster and Port Macquarie.

On Monday afternoon, the highway south of town was covered by thick, orange smoke. Helicopters circled above, aiding firefighters on the ground who were battling a blaze that had scorched 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Transport vehicles reduced speed for traffic cones and warning signs, the charred eucalypts and ash-covered ground on each side of the highway evidence 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 seem like another ordinary day if not for the aircraft overhead and acrid odor lingering in the air.

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 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 water bottle every 20 minutes when on the active fire ground.

Personal Accounts from the Fireground

Clouds of smoke were still rising from glowing hotspots 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 charred teddy bear remained pinned to the log, still wearing a Christmas hat.

Down the road, Morgan was on his veranda with his two dogs, a little patch of grass surrounding his house the sole remnant of how the landscape used to look. Against the odds, his property was saved, despite his neighbour’s burning to the ground.

He recalled receiving a call from a friend at lunchtime on Saturday, telling him “you’ve got about half an hour and then a fire’s going to hit”. His estimate was spot on.

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

Thankfully, crews protected the home, and succeeded in defending it. The bushfire moved through in about half an hour, sounding like “a roaring inferno”.

A Landscape Transformed

Morgan, who has resided at the same house for around 30 years, has not witnessed the land so dry.

“We used to get rain every week,” he said. “This intensity is new. 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 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. “Previously a fire almost approached a nearby ridge and that was quite frightening 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 was not a novel situation for Curley, who came close to losing his home in Wattle Grove when fires came through in 2019.

“You see people on the news 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 just get out, 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 “across the coastal region” to assist in the containment effort and had done an “outstanding job” saving properties from being destroyed.

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

“The firefighting community is one big family,” she said. “But we’re definitely not out of the woods yet.

“There have been instances of 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 Pacific Highway blaze on Monday evening. Authorities advised locals to evacuate if unprepared, and prepare a bushfire survival plan.

“Spot fires are starting from lightning strikes a few days ago,” she said.

“Tomorrow’s weather is the mid-thirties with variable wind, and that has been difficult - wind swirls in the area.”