As Garry Morgan arrived home on the end of the week, his home on the coastal fringe was enveloped in a massive cloud of smoke. Within twenty-four hours later, two dwellings on his street were consumed, and the nearby woodland was transformed into blackened skeletal remains.
The township 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 marks a “foreboding start” to the wildfire period.
A total of four homes have been lost in the wider Bulahdelah area, comprising 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 dogs stayed right by me, it was frightening.”
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 circled above, aiding firefighters on the ground who were working to contain a blaze that had consumed 4,000 hectares since Friday.
Heavy vehicles slowed to observe traffic cones and reduce-speed signs, the blackened gum trees and burnt grass on each side of the highway a stark reminder of how far the fire had ravaged the adjacent Myall Lakes national park. It remained at a watch and act level on Monday evening.
In Bulahdelah, though, it would seem like another ordinary day if not for the aircraft overhead and acrid odor lingering in the air.
A refueling point for aircraft has been set up at the town’s showground, turning it into a base for around 300 emergency personnel who have come from across the state to help.
On Monday afternoon, water bottles 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 active fire ground.
Plumes of smoke were continuing to emit from glowing hotspots on Emu Creek Road, a meandering country road 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 pinned to the log, complete with a Christmas hat.
Down the road, 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 recalled receiving a call from a friend at lunchtime on Saturday, warning him “you have roughly 30 minutes and then a blaze will arrive”. His prediction was accurate.
“We doused the buildings and shed down, wet the perimeter,” he said, and then his reaction turned to “alarm”. “I said to myself, ‘this is overwhelming’,” he said. “But I refused to leave.”
Fortunately, firefighters surrounded the house, and managed to save it. The bushfire passed over 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 not witnessed the land in such a dry state.
“We used to get rain every week,” he said. “Fires of this magnitude are unprecedented. But you’ve got to take the good with the bad.”
On the same street, Jeff Curley was caring for his friend’s property which had also mostly been spared Saturday’s blaze, other than a broken headlight on a car and a container of wood stored for winter that had burnt to ash.
“I am very familiar with this area,” he said. “Previously a fire almost reached a local ridge and that was quite frightening then, but the wind changed.
“The conditions are far more arid now. Flames emerged on all sides, and the firies 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 all of a sudden it's upon you. I understand the feeling. I told my friend to evacuate immediately, 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 “amazing job” protecting houses from being destroyed.
She said all agencies had “worked as one” 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.
“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 center on the tiny township of Nerong, which was expected to be hit by the Pacific Highway blaze on Monday evening. Residents had been urged to evacuate if unprepared, and have a fire plan.
“Little fires are igniting from lightning strikes a few days ago,” she said.
“The forecast is the mid-thirties with variable wind, and that’s been challenge - wind swirls in the area.”
A passionate textile artist and community organizer who loves inspiring others through creative sewing projects.
