SYDNEY—A fire tornado lifted a 12-ton fire apparatus into the air and slammed it onto its roof, killing one firefighter and injuring two others as the Australian state continues to battle a fire emergency, an official said Tuesday.
The extreme conditions firefighters faced on Monday evening near Albury in the south of the state were "truly horrific," New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told reporters Tuesday.
"It was a fire tornado or a collapsed pyro convective column that had formed above the main fire front. That resulted in cyclonic winds that moved across the fireground," Fitzsimmons explained.
He named the late firefighter as Samuel McPaul, 28. Two other firefighters in the truck were rushed to hospital to be treated for injuries and burns.
A command vehicle was also lifted into the air by the fire tornado and dumped on its roof, severely injuring the firefighter inside.
The fire near Albury, 550 kilometers southwest of Sydney, is still out of control.
Fires have raged across south-eastern Australia since October, scorching more than 3.4 million hectares of bushland and leaving a total of ten people dead and nearly 1,000 homes lost. There is no end in sight.
The Rural Fire Service issued fire warnings for a 150-kilometer stretch of the coastline south of Sydney Tuesday as fires are expected to flare in heatwave conditions and strong winds expected in the afternoon.
In Victoria to the south, the Country Fire Service said the fire front was advancing on coastal towns where people were urged Tuesday to retreat to beaches and safe zones protected by firefighting teams.
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