'Flames Emerged from All Directions': New South Wales Town Counts the Cost After Wildfire Strikes.

When a local resident returned to his property on the end of the week, his home on the coastal fringe was enveloped in a dense smoke column. Within twenty-four hours later, a pair of homes on his street were destroyed, and the surrounding forest was transformed into blackened skeletal remains.

A Town Grappling with Loss

The community of Bulahdelah, approximately 235km north of Sydney, has found itself at the heart of a tragedy after a veteran firefighter lost his life on Sunday evening when he was hit by a collapsing tree. This marks a “foreboding start” to the fire season.

A total of four homes have been destroyed in the broader 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,” Morgan stated. “My canine companions remained close, it was frightening.”

Landscapes of Loss and Fortitude

Bulahdelah is a frequent rest stop on the Pacific Highway for holidaymakers on their way 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 shrouded in dense, ochre-hazed smoke. Helicopters hovered overhead, aiding firefighters on the ground who were working to contain a fire that had burnt 4,000 hectares since Friday.

Heavy vehicles reduced speed for road markers and warning signs, the charred eucalypts and charred 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' alert level on Monday evening.

A Hub of Emergency Response

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 refueling point for aircraft has been established at the town’s showground, converting it into a hub for around 300 emergency personnel who have come 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 estimated that they needed a bottle of water every 20 minutes when on the frontline.

Personal Accounts from the Fireground

Billows of smoke were continuing to emit from smoldering patches on Emu Creek Road, a winding rural street that hugs a creek bed south of the township where two houses were lost.

On a fence post outside a burnt property, a charred teddy bear 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 sole remnant of how the area once appeared. Miraculously, his property was spared, despite his neighbour’s 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 blaze will arrive”. His timing was precise.

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

Fortunately, firefighters surrounded the house, and succeeded in defending it. The bushfire moved through in about half an hour, sounding like “a roaring flame”.

A Landscape Transformed

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. “Fires of this magnitude are unprecedented. 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, except for 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. “Previously a fire almost approached a nearby ridge and that was pretty scary then, but the wind changed.

“The dryness is extreme now. It came from everywhere, and the firies 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. “You think it’s over there, and suddenly it’s on top of 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 “right up and down the coast” to assist in the firefighting operation and had done an “amazing job” saving properties from being destroyed.

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

“The firefighting community is a close-knit group,” she said. “But we’re definitely not out of the woods yet.

“There have been instances of the Pacific Highway open and close a few times, the fire spot across the road. It’s still not contained, it is expected to spread.”

Channon said efforts in the coming hours 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.

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

“The forecast is mid 30s with shifting winds, and that’s been challenge - wind changes direction in the area.”