Three people yesterday died when a C-130 Hercules aerial water tanker crashed while battling wildfires in the Snowy Monaro region of Australia’s New South Wales, officials said.
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed the deaths and crash in comments to reporters, as Australia attempts to deal with an unprecedented fire season that has left a large swath of destruction.
“The only thing I have from the field reports are that the plane came down. It’s crashed and there was a large fireball associated with that crash,” New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said, adding that all three aboard were US residents.
Photo: AP
“Unfortunately, all we’ve been able to do is locate the wreckage and the crash site, and we have not been able to locate any survivors,” he said.
There are more than 1,700 volunteers and personnel in the field, and five fires are being described at an “emergency warning level,” Berejiklian said.
Also yesterday, the Canberra Airport closed because of nearby wildfires and residents south of Australia’s capital were told to seek shelter.
The blaze started on Wednesday, but strong winds and high temperatures caused conditions in Canberra to deteriorate. A second fire near the airport, which started yesterday morning, is at the “watch and act” level.
“Arrivals and departures are affected due to aviation firefighting operations,” the airport authority said in a tweet.
Another tweet from traffic police said that “the fire is moving fast and there are multiple road closures in the area. Please avoid the area. Local road blocks in place.”
Residents in some Canberra suburbs were advised to seek shelter and others to leave immediately.
“The defense force is both assisting to a degree and looking to whether that needs to be reinforced,” Australian Defense Force Chief General Angus Campbell told reporters.
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