Firefighter dies battling inferno in Eastern Australia, as bushfire tragedy hangs over Sydney’s New Year’s Eve celebrations

A volunteer firefighter died Monday while fighting bushfires that are raging across eastern Australia, the Rural Fire Service reported.
The service said in a statement on Twitter that the firefighter died when his fire truck overturned at Jingellic, 70 kilometres east of the New South Wales town of Albury.
It is the third death of a volunteer firefighter since the fires broke out in October.
At least 90 per cent of the firefighters battling the hundreds of blazes along the east coast are unpaid volunteers who leave their work to defend their communities.
Two other firefighters suffered burns in the incident.
It is believed their truck rolled after being hit by extreme winds.
“A brave firefighter has lost their life protecting the community east of Albury. Words fail at times like this,” New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Twitter.
Albury is close to the border of the state of Victoria, where firefighters battled an outbreak of new fires on Monday as a heatwave swept across the continent and caused thousands to evacuate.
Fire authorities in Victoria on the weekend told residents and holidaymakers in the Gippsland region, 322 kilometres east of Melbourne, to evacuate in anticipation of extreme fire conditions.
Victoria’s Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp told reporters Monday that those who had not left the holiday town of Lakes Entrance by midday were trapped, as fires had blocked the only access roads.
An estimated 30,000 holidaymakers were in the region, and not all had heeded evacuation warning, he said.
Crisp said fire crews were fighting flames that were leaping 20 metres into the air and smoke columns rising 14 kilometres in extreme conditions that created its own weather.
“There’s lightning coming out of these smoke columns.
“It is dangerous out there and people need to stay tuned to their local conditions so they can make good decisions,” Crisp added.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the heatwave brought temperatures in Victoria above 40 degrees and fire conditions would be made more dangerous by an expected wind change due late on Monday.
The heatwave is expected to arrive in the Sydney region Tuesday where firefighters are bracing for deteriorating conditions on New Year’s Eve.
The Bureau of Meteorology predicted western Sydney will reach 44 degrees Tuesday with some inland towns being hit with 45 degrees.
Winds are expected to pick up to 50 to 60 kilometres an hour, gusting to 80 kilometres an hour.
The horrific bushfire disaster that has hit the east coast of Australia will hang over the New Year’s celebrations in Sydney, but the city’s iconic fireworks display is still expected to draw massive crowds.
Dozens slept overnight at the gates to the free zones around the harbour and hundreds arrived before dawn on Tuesday to grab the best spots to see the Sydney sky lit up with 100,000 fireworks.
The Rural Fire Service had to make a special exemption from fire bans for Sydney to be able to hold the midnight fireworks spectacular.
More than 280,000 people signed an online petition to cancel the display and give the money spent on it to those affected by the massive bushfires not far from the city.
The petition cites the cost of the fireworks as 5.8 million dollars ($4 million), which is roughly in line with previous years.
With the event given the go ahead, instead buckets for donations to the Red Cross fire appeal will be passed around the million people who gather around the Sydney harbour foreshore.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said in a statement on Tuesday that Sydney New Year’s Eve is a symbol of hope and happiness for Australians and those watching around the world.
“Sydney New Year’s Eve brings people together from around the world.
“This year we want to channel that positive energy to help Australian communities who have been hit hard by the bushfires,” Moore said.
Later on Tuesday, Moore spoke at a news conference where she hit back at critics of the city’s fireworks display, telling reporters that the real issue the country should be worried about is climate change.
“Australia is burning – our national parks and our native animals are being decimated and our communities are being devastated.
“As the driest continent on earth we’re at the forefront of accelerating global warming.
“What is happening is a wake up call for our governments to start making effective contributions to reducing global emissions,” Moore added.
Her comments came as an op-ed article by federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor was published in The Australian newspaper on Tuesday arguing that Australians should be proud of the government’s emissions reduction performance.
Taylor caused controversy at the COP25 climate talks in Madrid earlier in December when he argued Australia could use carbon credits from earlier cuts achieved under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
“Cities around the world are doing their bit to address global warming – it’s our national governments that are failing us,” Moore said.