Thursday, January 23, 2020

3 U.S. Firefighters Die in Plane Crash as Australia’s Blazes Intensify

Three firefighters from the United States were killed on Thursday when a large plane carrying fire retardant went down in the mountains south of Canberra, the Australian capital. The fiery crash, on a hill near a wildlife sanctuary, ended a brief lull in the country’s summer of deadly wildfires, grounded other water tankers for the day, and spread sadness and grief from Australia to North America. Firefighters working in the area, where forests and farms sit side by side, described hearing a sharp and sudden clap — like the familiar sound of an exploding car, but 10 times as loud. “We’re devastated because those Americans, they’re not going home,” said Alison Myers, a deputy captain with the Numeralla fire brigade, which covers the surrounding district. “It might as well have been one of our own.” It was a tragic reminder that this unpredecented Australian fire season is far from over, and that the scale of what the country is facing has the power to draw in even Americans with years of experience who seek to contribute from above. Fire officials said the cause of the disaster was not immediately known. The crash occurred in the early afternoon, just as fire conditions hit their worst, with 90-degree heat and wind gusts racing past 60 miles an hour in a landscape thick with smoke and hills...MORE

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