Search on for plane feared crashed while fighting Australian wildfires - 13abc Action News

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Three people have died when a C-130 Hercules aerial water tanker crashed while battling wildfires in the Snowy Monaro region of Australia’s southern New South Wales state.

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. She tweeted condolences to their families and to “the tight knit firefighting community.”

Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons says all three aboard were U.S. residents.

Also Thursday, Canberra Airport closed because of nearby wildfires, and residents south of Australia’s capital were told to seek shelter.

At least 27 people have died because of the fires this season, with four of the casualties being firefighters.

Scientists fear that some of Australia’s unique and colorful endangered species may not recover from the wildfires. They are looking for surviving representatives of rare species including the kangaroo-like brush-tailed rock wallabies and helping threatened creatures get enough food and water in recently scorched forests.

Koalas are not now in imminent danger of extinction, but scientists worry that the iconic marsupial’s habitat has been greatly reduced by wildfires.

Amid heat waves and drought linked to climate change, some 40,000 square miles of Australia has been charred. The blazes reached into jungles that don’t normally burn and forested areas that already had burned at least once in recent years.

Government officials plan a major reseeding effort.

But scientists say the combination of high temperatures, drought and more frequent wildfires means even fire-adapted forests may not fully recover. New ecosystems would take their place.

Copyright 2020 Associated Press. Gray Media Group, Inc., contribtued to this report. All rights reserved.

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Search on for plane feared crashed while fighting Australian wildfires - 13abc Action News
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