Another Australian firefighter is dead after what witnesses called a ‘freak weather event’ saw the 10-ton apparatus flipped by the wind on to its roof.
The crash, occurring on the NSW/Victoria border, killed New South Wales Rural Fire Service volunteer firefighter Samuel McPaul, 28, and seriously injured two other firefighters also in the truck that was flipped.
Also on Monday, fires raged in Southeast Victoria, hitting the popular vacation town of Mallacoota quickly surrounding the town and trapping thousands of residents and holidaymakers vacationing in the coastal Victorian town.
At the time of writing, Mallacoota remains isolated with only a single major road leading in and out of the town that has been closed for several hours.
As the bushland surrounding the town burns, the skyline has turned blood red, causing those remaining to evacuate to beaches and being told by firefighters holding the line that if the situation worsens that they should head into the ocean for protection from the flames.
