Two American flight crew who were killed fighting bushfires were given an emotional send off today as their coffins were flown home.
Dozens of mourners gathered at Sydney Airport to pay tribute to Captain Ian McBeth, 44, and First Officer Paul Hudson, 42, as they were placed on a military plane for repatriation.
Mr McBeth, from Montana, and Mr Hudson, of Arizona, died when their C-130 aircraft crashed during a water-bombing mission last month.
Their coffins were draped in the US flag, while Australian emergency service personnel stood to attention alongside relatives of both victims.
Fire engines were also parked up with their lights flashing in honour of the two men. The body of a third crew member, flight engineer Rick DeMorgan Jr, 43, will be flown home on Saturday.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the crash, which occurred after the air tanker dumped retardant on a huge wildfire in mountains south of Canberra, the capital. Eight firefighters and a total of 33 people have lost their lives in Australia’s worst bushfires season in a generation.
It emerged today that 300 serving and retired UK firefighters are heading to Australia to help rebuild communities destroyed by the fires. They will work with the charity BlazeAid in the worst affected areas of Victoria and New South Wales.
The effort was organised by former London Fire Brigade officer Steve James, who now runs the Tunnel 2 Towers charity event. Mr James received 1,250 responses from firefighters from across the UK. A major airline has offered return flights for those who travel.
Mr James told the BBC: “The Australian firefighters will probably think we poms would go there and just drink tea, but it’s a great way to break barriers down. As soon as the fires started I wrote offering our help. We aren’t going out to fight bushfires and we know we’re at the bottom of the pecking order. You don’t just turn up at someone’s party and take over, do you? We’re trained to go in areas with scorched earth, and taught things like animal rescue.”
