Three American Firefighters Perish In Water Bomber Plane Crash In Australia

Jan 23, 2020 by apost team

Three U.S. firefighters have heroically died fighting blazes in the Australian bush as their water bomber aircraft crashed Thursday.

The aircraft was called to the town of Cooma, according to a statement made by the state Premier Gladys Berejiklian quoted by CNN. Cooma is in the southeastern state of New South Wales where fires have been burning for months. American firefighters have been called in to help Australia cope with the large-scale devastation and this particular crew was on a fire-bombing mission in the area.

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The cause of the crash is not yet evident however The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) is investigating reports of the crash according to their Twitter. NSW RFS commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons did share with the media that contact was lost with the C-130 water-bombing plane at around 1:30pm local time on Thursday. 

"Tragically, there appears to be no survivors as a result of the crash down in the Snowy Monaro area," Fitzsimmons said per CNN. "It's impacted heavily with the ground. And initial reports are there was a large fireball associated with the impact of the plane as it hit the ground."

It remains to be said that Australia is not out of the woods yet with the blazes although they have been continuing for quite a while. The state’s premier reminds the public of the danger that personnel are constantly facing.

"Today is a stark and horrible reminder of the dangerous conditions that our volunteers, our emergency services personnel across the number of agencies take on a daily basis," Berejiklian said per CNN. "It demonstrates the dangerous work currently being undertaken. It also demonstrates the conditions that our firefighters are working under."

Rest in peace to the three heroes that have died in the face of helping others with their bravery. They will be remembered for their sacrifice.