SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Three people were killed when a water-bombing plane crashed southwest of Sydney on Thursday, setting off a “large fireball”, Australian officials said, as bushfires flared across the country’s southeast. New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said authorities lost contact with the C-130 Hercules aircraft, which was operating in the Snowy Monaro region, shortly before 1:30 pm Thursday. Fitzsimmons said the aircraft owner, Canadian firm Coulson Aviation, was grounding […]

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australian firefighters are on high alert for the possibility that scorching temperatures and strong winds could whip up new bushfires on Thursday, coming after rain brought welcome respite to fire-ravaged areas. Unprecedented bushfires fuelled by climate change have killed at least 29 people and devastated vast swathes of the country since September. Those blazes have been followed by extreme weather — including intense storms that have battered parts of Australia with […]

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — “Apocalyptic” dust storms swept across drought-stricken areas of Australia over the weekend, with thunder and giant hail battering the east coast, as extreme weather patterns collided in the bushfire-fatigued country. The southern city of Melbourne was lashed by huge hailstones late Sunday and fire-ravaged parts of Victoria state overnight received heavy rainfall, prompting new extreme weather alerts. Australia has since October been overwhelmed by an unprecedented bushfire season made worse by […]

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s bushfires have burned more than half the known habitat of 100 threatened plants and animals, including 32 critically endangered species, the government said Monday. Wildlife experts worry that more than a billion animals have perished in the unprecedented wave of bushfires that have ravaged eastern and southern Australia for months. Twenty-eight people died in the blazes, which have swept through an area larger than Portugal. Officials say it will take […]

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Heavy rain fell on bushfires in eastern Australia Friday for a second straight day, offering further relief from a months-long crisis, but dozens of blazes remained out of control. This week’s wet weather has given exhausted firefighters a major boost in battling unprecedented blazes that have been fuelled by climate change and drought. The fires have claimed 28 lives, scorched massive tracts of pristine forests and destroyed thousands of homes. Following […]