Australia bushfires: Firefighter dead in blaze

AUSTRALIA: A 60-year-old Australian firefighter died in the months-long bushfire in the country’s south on Sunday.

Chief fire officer at Forest Fire Management Victoria, Chris Hardman, said a firefighter from Parks Victoria was “involved in an incident while working on a fire in the Omeo area resulting in a fatality”.

The death raised the toll from Australia’s bushfires to at least 27, even as firefighters took advantage of cooler conditions to conduct back burning and strengthen containment lines.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday stated that his government would consider opening a commission of inquiry into the blazes, amid sustained criticism of his handling of the crisis.
Morrison accepted a groundswell of anger about the climate-fueled fires, which have burned an area the size of South Korea and again shrouded Sydney in smoke.