Another firefighter has died battling Australia's bushfires, authorities say
Nick Perry,Associated Press 1/12/2020
A plume of smoke rises from fire in a huge wood chip pile
at a mill in Eden, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020. Associated Press/Rick Rycroft
Another firefighter has died battling Australia's bushfires, authorities said Sunday.The firefighter was one of the few professionals battling the blazes — most of the firefighters currently working are merely volunteers.It's unclear how the firefighter died.The news brings the death toll to at least 27 people. Four of the casualties were firefighters.
BURRAGATE, Australia (AP) — Another firefighter has died battling the Australian wildfire crisis and the prime minister on Sunday said his government was adapting and building resilience to the fire danger posed by climate change.
The firefighter — one of the few professionals among mainly volunteer brigades battling blazes across southeast Australia — died on Saturday near Omeo in eastern Victoria state, Victorian Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said. No details of the circumstances were released.
The tragedy brings the death toll to at least 27 people in a crisis that has destroyed more than 2,000 homes and scorched an area larger than the US state of Indiana since September. Four of the casualties were firefighters.
Authorities are using relatively benign conditions forecast in southeast Australia for a week or more to consolidate containment lines around scores of fires that are likely to burn for weeks without heavy rainfall. The reprieve from severe fire conditions promises to be the longest of the current fire season.
The crisis has brought accusations that Prime Minister Scott Morrison's conservative government needs to take more action to counter climate change, which experts say has worsened the blazes. Thousands of protesters rallied late Friday in Sydney and Melbourne, calling for Morrison to be fired and for Australia to take tougher action on global warming.
Morrison said his government was developing a national disaster risk reduction framework within the Department of Home Affairs that will deal with wildfires, cyclones, floods and drought. The government was currently working through the details of the framework with local governments.
"This is a longer-term risk framework model which deals with one of the big issues in response to climate changing and that is the resilience and the adaptation that we need in our community right across the country to deal with longer, hotter, drier seasons that increase the risk of bushfire," Morrison told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
A Rural Fire Service firefighter Trevor Stewart views a flank of a fire on January 11, 2020 in Tumburumba, Australia. Sam Mooy/Getty Images
Morrison said his government accepted that climate change was leading to longer, hotter and drier summers, despite junior government lawmaker George Christensen posting on social media over the weekend that the cause of the latest fires was arson rather than man-made climate change. Another junior lawmaker Craig Kelly has also publicly denied any link between climate change and fire crisis.
State authorities have said a minority of fires are deliberately lit.
American firefighters receive a heartwarming welcome as they arrive in Australia to help battle the country's devastating bushfires
Ashley Collman Jan 10, 2020
A contingent of 39 firefighters from the United States
and Canada arrive at Melbourne Airport in Australia
on January 2, 2020 to help fight the country's wildfires.
Julian Smith/AAP Image via AP
Dozens of American firefighters arrived in Sydney, Australia on Thursday to lend a hand in fighting the country's bushfires.
Dozens of American firefighters arrived in Sydney, Australia on Thursday to lend a hand in fighting the country's bushfires.
Video shows crowds gathered in front of arrivals spontaneously bursting into applause to show their gratitude to the arriving Americans.
The US and Australia has exchanged firefighters for about 15 years.
A second group of American firefighters arrived in Australia on Thursday to fight the country's bushfires, and locals wasted no time in thanking them for volunteering.
Shane Fitzsimmons, the commissioner of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, was at Sydney Airport to welcome the incoming US firefighters.
He took a video showing how the crowd at the arrivals area burst into a spontaneous round of applause as the firemen started streaming in with their bags of gear, ready to get down to work.—Shane Fitzsimmons (@RFSCommissioner) January 9, 2020
Autumn Snyder told CNN that her husband Sean was among the firefighters welcomed in Sydney this week, and she was "very humbled" by the response.
"It's so refreshing and gratifying to see them be welcomed and appreciated," she said.
She said her husband volunteered to go to Australia and was happy to be picked for the assignment, which will last at least 30 days. He works as an assistant fire management officer for the US Forest Service in Talladega, Alabama.
A photo shows a general view of the Dunn Road fire in
Mount Adrah, Australia on Friday. Sam Mooy/Getty
Autumn said they are a "public service family" and she and her three kids are "super proud of the work" her husband is doing.
As of Friday, there were more than 250 American firefighters in Australia to fight the wildfires, according to the Associated Press, making it the largest-ever deployment of American firefighters abroad.
The US and Australia have been exchanging firefighters for about 15 years. The most recent exchange happened in 2015 when Australian firefighters flew to the US to fight wildfires in California. The US has similar partnerships with New Zealand, Mexico, and Canada.
Terrance Gallegos, 39, was one of the first American firefighters to be sent to Australia to fight this year's wildfires. He told the Associated Press on Thursday that he's proud of the long-standing partnership between American and Australian firefighters.
Autumn said they are a "public service family" and she and her three kids are "super proud of the work" her husband is doing.
As of Friday, there were more than 250 American firefighters in Australia to fight the wildfires, according to the Associated Press, making it the largest-ever deployment of American firefighters abroad.
The US and Australia have been exchanging firefighters for about 15 years. The most recent exchange happened in 2015 when Australian firefighters flew to the US to fight wildfires in California. The US has similar partnerships with New Zealand, Mexico, and Canada.
Terrance Gallegos, 39, was one of the first American firefighters to be sent to Australia to fight this year's wildfires. He told the Associated Press on Thursday that he's proud of the long-standing partnership between American and Australian firefighters.
A satellite image from January 4 shows wildfires burning
in Victoria and New South Wales, Australia. NASA via AP
"I've been on incidents when Australians have actually come and assisted me on my division and helped me out operationally," Gallegos said. "It's a great opportunity to come here and help our brothers and sisters from Australia with their fire operations and just lend them a hand."
Since it's the winter down season, the Americans could afford to send volunteers to Australia, where it's summer and the fires have been raging since September.
The US plans to send about 100 more firefighters to Australia next week.
Carrie Bilbao, a spokesperson for the National Interagency Fire Center, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that the next group heading to Australia is getting trained on venomous snakes and insects they might encounter down under.
The fires have claimed the lives of at least 27 so far and destroyed more than 2,000 homes. The fires have impacted an area that combined are twice the size of the state of Maryland.
"I've been on incidents when Australians have actually come and assisted me on my division and helped me out operationally," Gallegos said. "It's a great opportunity to come here and help our brothers and sisters from Australia with their fire operations and just lend them a hand."
Since it's the winter down season, the Americans could afford to send volunteers to Australia, where it's summer and the fires have been raging since September.
The US plans to send about 100 more firefighters to Australia next week.
Carrie Bilbao, a spokesperson for the National Interagency Fire Center, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that the next group heading to Australia is getting trained on venomous snakes and insects they might encounter down under.
The fires have claimed the lives of at least 27 so far and destroyed more than 2,000 homes. The fires have impacted an area that combined are twice the size of the state of Maryland.
No comments:
Post a Comment