As a local resident returned to his property on Friday afternoon, his home on the coastal fringe was surrounded by a “big plume of smoke”. Less than twenty-four hours later, two houses on his street would be lost, and the nearby woodland was transformed into a scorched landscape.
The community of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has found itself at the heart of a devastating event after a experienced firefighter died on Sunday evening when he was hit by a falling tree. This signals a “foreboding start” to the bushfire season.
Four structures 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,” Morgan stated. “My canine companions remained close, it was frightening.”
Bulahdelah is a popular stopover on the Pacific Highway for tourists journeying 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 firefighters on the ground who were working to contain a blaze that had consumed 4,000 hectares since Friday.
Transport vehicles reduced speed for road markers and warning signs, the scorched trees 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' alert level on Monday evening.
In Bulahdelah, though, it would seem like 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 central point for around 300 firefighters and volunteers who have travelled 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 active fire ground.
Plumes of smoke were continuing to emit 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 attached to the log, still wearing a Christmas hat.
Further along, Morgan was on his veranda with his two dogs, a small area of green 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 remembered receiving a call from a friend at lunchtime on Saturday, warning 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, wet the perimeter,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “alarm”. “I said to myself, ‘what the hell have I got myself into’,” he said. “But I refused to leave.”
Thankfully, firefighters surrounded the house, and managed to save it. The bushfire moved through in about half an hour, with a sound resembling “a thunderous blaze”.
Morgan, who has lived in the same house for around 30 years, has never seen the land so dry.
“We used to get rain every week,” he said. “We’ve never had fires like this. 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 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. “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. Flames emerged on all sides, and the firefighters pretty much saved it [the property].”
This experience wasn’t new for Curley, who nearly lost his home in Wattle Grove when fires came through in 2019.
“You hear reports say, ‘I can’t believe how fast it came’,” he said. “It seems distant, and suddenly it surrounds you. I understand the feeling. I told my friend to just get out, and he did.”
Kirsty Channon, spokesperson for the NSW Rural Fire Service, said crews from various services had come from “across the coastal region” to assist in the firefighting operation and had done an “incredible work” protecting houses from being destroyed.
She said all agencies had “united” after the tragic loss of one of their own.
“The firefighting community is one big family,” she said. “The threat persists.
“There have been instances of 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 focus on the tiny township of Nerong, which was anticipated to be impacted by the highway fire on Monday evening. Residents had been urged to leave if not prepared, and prepare a bushfire survival plan.
“Small blazes are starting from lightning strikes a few days ago,” she said.
“Tomorrow’s weather is mid 30s with shifting winds, and that’s been challenge - wind swirls in the area.”
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