As wildfires terrorise Sydney, this picture of knackered firemen has come to symbolise the battle against the flames in Australia.
As is now almost an annual occurrence, Australia is battling with ferocious wildfires as the summer kicks off Down Under. This year, the focus is on New South Wales where 58 fires are currently burning, with 14 of them still out of control.
The area around the Blue Mountains, 8okms from Sydney, is very badly affected and over 200 homes have already been lost to the flames.
Thousands of volunteers are battling the blazes and one image of a troop of exhausted firefighters has gone viral in Australia.
After battling a fire for nearly 24 in a community called Catherine Hill Bay, a place on the coast between Newcastle and Sydney, some firefighters got their head down for a quick sleep, even as the flames still burned around them.
The photo, taken by Newcastle Herald photographer Phil Hearne shows members of the Wallarah Rural Fire Service, including brothers Josh and Matt Jones-Power.
The firefighters were waiting for the flames to reach the road, where it would be extinguished, so the work was done but after a long, long shift, the lads took a minute to get some kip.
“We just stopped for about two seconds to catch our breath,” Matt told the Sydney Morning Herald. “We were waiting for the fire to come up to the road; we needed to take a break when we could. It had been non-stop for about 24 hours.’’
It’s an image that symbolises the battle between the environment and the people of Australia and we hope the brave firefighters continue to win the battle.
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