🔗 Share this article

When Garry Morgan returned to his property on Friday afternoon, his home on the coastal fringe was encircled by a “big plume of smoke”. Less than twenty-four hours later, a pair of homes on his street would be lost, and the surrounding forest was transformed into a scorched landscape.

A Community at the Centre of Tragedy

The community of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has found itself at the heart of a devastating event after a long-serving firefighter died on Sunday evening when he was struck by a collapsing tree. This represents a worrying commencement to the bushfire season.

Four structures 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,” Morgan stated. “My canine companions remained close, it was terrifying.”

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a common pause on the Pacific Highway for holidaymakers on their way up the coastal region to beach areas such as Seal Rocks, Forster and Port Macquarie.

On Monday afternoon, the highway south of town was shrouded in thick, orange smoke. Water-bombing helicopters circled above, aiding firefighters on the ground who were battling a blaze that had consumed 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Heavy vehicles slowed to observe road markers and warning signs, the scorched trees and burnt grass 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 level on Monday evening.

The Nerve Centre for Firefighting

In Bulahdelah, though, it would seem like a typical day if not for the aircraft overhead and scent of burning hanging in the atmosphere.

A refuelling station for aircraft has been set up at the town’s showground, converting it into a base for around 300 emergency personnel who have come from across the state to help.

On Monday afternoon, supplies of water were being unloaded from trucks and sweets were being packed into zip lock bags. One firefighter estimated that they needed a water bottle every 20 minutes when on the fire line.

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 fence post outside a destroyed home, a charred teddy bear remained attached to the log, still wearing a Christmas hat.

Down the road, 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. Miraculously, his property was saved, despite his neighbour’s 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 timing was precise.

“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 the hell have I got myself into’,” he said. “I decided to stay.”

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

An Environment Altered

Morgan, who has resided at the same house for around 30 years, has not witnessed 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 container of wood stored for winter that had been reduced to ashes.

“I’ve been here many, many times,” 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. It came from everywhere, and the firefighters essentially protected 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 see people on the news say, ‘I can’t believe how fast it came’,” he said. “It seems distant, and suddenly it surrounds you. I know what it’s like. I told my friend to just get out, and he did.”

Fire Service Update and Continuing Danger

Kirsty Channon, spokesperson for the NSW Rural Fire Service, said crews from various services had come from “right up and down the coast” to assist in the firefighting operation and had done an “incredible work” saving properties from being destroyed.

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

“The firefighting community is a close-knit group,” she said. “However, the danger is not over.

“We’ve seen the Pacific Highway closing and reopening a few times, the fire jump backwards and forwards. 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 Pacific Highway blaze on Monday evening. Residents had been urged to leave if not prepared, and prepare a bushfire survival plan.

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

“Tomorrow’s weather is mid 30s with variable wind, and that’s been challenge - wind changes direction in the area.”