🔗 Share this article

When Garry Morgan returned to his property on Friday afternoon, his home on the coastal fringe was surrounded by a “big plume of smoke”. Within twenty-four hours later, two houses on his street were consumed, and the surrounding forest would be reduced to a scorched landscape.

A Community at the Centre of Tragedy

The community of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has become at the centre of a tragedy after a long-serving firefighter lost his life on Sunday evening when he was struck by a collapsing tree. This signals a “foreboding start” to the wildfire period.

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.

“Words fail to capture it,” Morgan stated. “My canine companions remained close, it was terrifying.”

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a popular stopover 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. Helicopters hovered overhead, aiding ground crews who were attempting to quash a fire that had burnt 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Passing trucks slowed to observe 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 swept 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 seem like another ordinary day if not for the aircraft overhead and acrid odor lingering in the air.

A refuelling station for aircraft has been established at the town’s showground, turning it into a central point for around 300 fire crews and volunteers who have travelled from across the state to help.

On Monday afternoon, supplies of water 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 fire line.

Personal Accounts from the Fireground

Billows of smoke were still rising from smoldering patches on Emu Creek Road, a meandering country road 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 pinned to the log, still wearing a Christmas hat.

Further along, Morgan sat on his porch with his two dogs, a little patch of grass surrounding his house the only remaining sign of how the area once appeared. 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 prediction was accurate.

“We doused the buildings and shed down, sprayed the fence line,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “panic”. “I thought, ‘this is overwhelming’,” he said. “But I refused to leave.”

Thankfully, crews protected the home, and managed to save it. The bushfire moved through in about half an hour, with a sound resembling “a roaring flame”.

An Environment Altered

Morgan, who has resided at the same house for around 30 years, has not witnessed the land in such a dry state.

“It once rained rain every week,” he said. “This intensity is new. 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, except for 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 reached a local ridge and that was quite frightening then, but the wind changed.

“It’s just so much drier this time. Flames emerged on all sides, and the firefighters 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 came through in 2019.

“You hear reports say, ‘I can’t believe how fast it came’,” he said. “You think it’s over there, and all of a sudden it surrounds 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 various services had come from “across the coastal region” to help with the firefighting operation and had done an “incredible work” protecting houses from being destroyed.

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

“Firefighters is a close-knit group,” 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’s still not contained, it will continue to grow.”

Channon said efforts in the coming hours would focus on the small community of Nerong, which was expected to be hit by the highway fire on Monday evening. Residents had been urged to evacuate if unprepared, and have a fire plan.

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

“The forecast is the mid-thirties with variable wind, and that has been difficult - wind changes direction in the area.”