Three Americans killed in an air tanker crash while fighting a bushfire in New South Wales have been described as heroes who “paid the ultimate sacrifice” during a memorial service in Sydney.
Captain Ian McBeth, first officer Paul Hudson and flight engineer Rick DeMorgan Jr died when their C-130 Large Air Tanker crashed while fighting a bushfire north-east of Cooma on January 23.
Wives and children of two of the three fallen firefighters attended the private service which was held inside an RAAF hangar at Richmond air base.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and Emergency Services Minister David Elliott also attended.
NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told mourners the crew had completed more than 140 aerial firefighting missions since December 1 in what he described as “a truly traumatic season” with more than 2,300 homes destroyed, more than 5.3 million hectares destroyed and 25 lives lost.
“But without dwelling on the enormity of loss, what I do need to say very publicly is that loss … would have been considerably greater if it weren’t for the efforts of the thousands of men and women operating on the front line and these special aviators that look after us from above.”
Commissioner Fitzsimmons said many in the firefighting fraternity had taken the men’s deaths hard.
Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-30/nsw-bushfire-air-tanker-crash-victims-honoured-at-memorial-serv/11913924
For more from ABC News, click here: https://ab.co/2kxYCZY
You can watch more ABC News content on iview: https://ab.co/2mge4KH
Subscribe to us on YouTube: http://ab.co/1svxLVE
Go deeper on our ABC News In-depth channel: https://ab.co/2lNeBn2
You can also like us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/abcnews.au
Or follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/abcnews_au
Or even on Twitter: http://twitter.com/abcnews
