SYDNEY, Australia — Three firefighters from the United States were killed on Thursday as a large aircraft being used to battle bush fires crashed south of the Australian capital, Canberra, the Rural Fire Service in New South Wales said. The plane went down on Thursday afternoon as blazes were threatening parts of New South Wales, ending a brief lull in the country’s summer of disastrous wildfires. The aircraft, a C-130 Hercules carrying a load of fire retardant, was operated by Coulson Aviation, a Canadian company that helped battle last year’s California fires and has long worked in Australia. The plane crashed in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, about 70 miles south of Canberra, according to the Rural Fire Service. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau and the police were investigating the crash, an inquiry that could be affected by active fires in the area.

Source: New York Times January 23, 2020 05:19 UTC