When Garry Morgan returned to his property on the end of the week, his home on the coastal fringe was surrounded by a massive cloud of smoke. Less than twenty-four hours later, two houses on his street were destroyed, and the nearby woodland would be reduced to a scorched landscape.
The community of Bulahdelah, approximately 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 hit by a collapsing tree. This marks a “foreboding start” to the bushfire season.
Four structures have been lost 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.
“No words can express it,” he said. “The dogs didn’t leave my side, it was frightening.”
Bulahdelah is a popular stopover on the Pacific Highway for travelers 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 dense, ochre-hazed smoke. Aircraft conducting water drops circled above, aiding ground crews who were battling a fire that had scorched 4,000 hectares since Friday.
Passing trucks slowed to observe road markers and reduce-speed signs, the charred eucalypts and burnt grass on each side of the highway a stark reminder of how far the fire had burnt through the adjacent Myall Lakes national park. It was still at a watch and act level on Monday evening.
In Bulahdelah, though, it would appear as another ordinary day if not for the helicopters circling overhead and scent of burning lingering in the air.
A refuelling station for aircraft has been set up at the town’s showground, turning it into a hub for around 300 emergency personnel who have travelled from across the state to help.
On Monday afternoon, cartons of water were being unloaded from trucks and lollies were being packaged into zip lock bags. One firefighter noted that they needed a bottle of water every 20 minutes when on the fire line.
Clouds of smoke were continuing to emit from smoldering patches on Emu Creek Road, a winding rural street 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, complete with a Christmas hat.
Nearby, Morgan was on his veranda 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 neighbor's home burning to the ground.
He remembered 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 doused the buildings and shed down, sprayed the fence line,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “panic”. “I thought, ‘what the hell have I got myself into’,” he said. “I decided to stay.”
Fortunately, firefighters surrounded the house, and succeeded in defending 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.
“It once rained 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 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 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 essentially protected 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, ‘The speed was unbelievable’,” he said. “You think it’s over there, and suddenly it's upon you. I know what it’s like. I told my friend to evacuate immediately, and he did.”
Kirsty Channon, public information officer for the NSW Rural Fire Service, said crews from multiple agencies had come from “right up and down the coast” to assist in the containment effort and had done an “amazing job” saving properties from being destroyed.
She said all agencies had “worked as one” after the death 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 jump backwards and forwards. It’s still not contained, it will continue to grow.”
Channon said work in the immediate future would center on the small community of Nerong, which was expected to be hit by the Pacific Highway blaze on Monday evening. Authorities advised locals to leave if not prepared, and prepare a bushfire survival plan.
“Little fires are starting from storm activity a few days ago,” she said.
“Tomorrow’s weather is the mid-thirties with variable wind, and that’s been challenge - wind swirls in the area.”
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