'It Came from Everywhere': New South Wales Town Assesses the Damage Following Bushfire Sweeps Through.

When Garry Morgan returned to his property on Friday afternoon, his rural mid-north coast property was encircled by a massive cloud of smoke. Within 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 community of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has become at the centre of a tragedy after a experienced firefighter died on Sunday evening when he was hit by a falling tree. This signals a ominous beginning to the bushfire season.

Four properties 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. “The dogs didn’t leave my side, the fear was palpable.”

Scenes of Destruction and Resilience

Bulahdelah is a popular stopover on the Pacific Highway for travelers 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 covered by dense, ochre-hazed smoke. Aircraft conducting water drops circled above, aiding firefighters on the ground who were battling a blaze that had consumed 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Heavy vehicles reduced speed for road markers and reduce-speed signs, the scorched trees and ash-covered ground on each side of the highway a stark reminder of how far the fire had swept through the adjacent Myall Lakes national park. It remained at a watch and act level on Monday evening.

A Hub of Emergency Response

In Bulahdelah, though, it would appear as a typical day if not for the helicopters circling overhead and scent of burning lingering in the air.

A fuel depot for aircraft has been established at the town’s showground, converting it into a hub for around 300 fire crews and volunteers who have come from across the state to help.

On Monday afternoon, water bottles were being offloaded from trucks and sweets were being packed into zip lock bags. One firefighter noted that they needed a water bottle every 20 minutes when on the frontline.

Personal Accounts from the Fireground

Plumes 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 fence post outside a destroyed home, a scorched stuffed toy 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 area once appeared. Against the odds, his property was spared, despite his neighbor's home burning to the ground.

He recalled receiving a call from a friend at lunchtime on Saturday, telling him “you have roughly 30 minutes and then a fire’s going to hit”. His prediction was accurate.

“We doused the buildings and shed down, wet the perimeter,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “alarm”. “I thought, ‘what have I gotten into’,” he said. “But I refused to leave.”

Fortunately, 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”.

An Environment Altered

Morgan, who has lived in the same house for around 30 years, has never seen 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 mostly been spared Saturday’s blaze, other than 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. “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 firefighters pretty much saved it [the property].”

This was not a novel situation 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. “You think it’s over there, and suddenly it surrounds you. I understand the feeling. I told my friend to just get out, and he did.”

Fire Service Update and Continuing Danger

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 firefighting operation and had done an “outstanding job” saving properties 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. “However, the danger is not over.

“We’ve seen 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 work in the immediate future would center on the tiny township of Nerong, which was expected to be hit by the highway fire on Monday evening. Residents had been urged to evacuate if unprepared, and prepare a bushfire survival plan.

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

“The forecast is the mid-thirties with shifting winds, and that has been difficult - wind swirls in the area.”