Firefighter death
It was a "freakish weather event" that killed a volunteer firefighter on Sunday, according to the New South Wales
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Rural Fire Service (RFS).
Powerful winds near the New South Wales-Victoria border lifted his 10-tonne truck off the ground and flipped it over, the service said.
Samuel McPaul, 28, was a newlywed who was expecting his first child.
Earlier in December, two volunteer firefighters died while battling a blaze near Sydney.
"To lose one of our
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own in such extraordinary circumstances is just tragic," said RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons of the latest death.
Mr McPaul died at the scene, while
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the driver received minor burns and a third person suffered more serious burns.
A second vehicle was also
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blown over in the same area and the firefighters on board were taken to hospital, the service said.
Meteorologists say a climate system in the Indian Ocean, known as the dipole, is the main driver behind the extreme heat in
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Australia.
Temperatures exceeded 40C (104F) in every state at the start of the week, with strong winds and lightning strikes bolstering the flames.