In the wake of the Islamic terror attack on a Sydney café, local officials are confirming the acts of bravery committed by the two hostages killed during the assault.
The first victim was a 38-year-old mother of three who died protecting a pregnant co-worker. Katrina Dawson was a lawyer who worked in the central business district opposite the café. She had been drinking coffee with Julie Taylor, a fellow lawyer who is pregnant, and when terrorist Man Haron Monis began firing she used her body to shield her friend.
The other victim was Tori Johnson, the manager of the Lindt Café. Johnson jumped forward when the terrorist began to fire at the hostages in an attempt to wrestle the gun away from the attacker. He suffered fatal wounds during the fight with Monis.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott admitted to the press that the attacker was not on the terrorism watch list. He could not explain why the openly hostile jihadist was not on the list.
The London Daily Mail said that Monis was on bail related to charges that he had plotted to kill a woman at the time of his assault on the café.
Authorities trying to stop the out of control bushfires threatening New South Wales Australia have doubled the amount of men on the front lines to 3,000.
But the biggest threat is coming outside the flames for the brave firefighters.
Forecasters are calling for excessively high heat, very low humidity and high winds that threaten to accelerate the growth of the fires. The head of the Rural Fire Service told the BBC that the conditions facing firefighters on Wednesday will be “as bad as it gets.”
“It’s going to be a horror day in terms of the weather,” Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill said. “Could be a horror day in terms of the fire.”
A total of 59 fires are burning in the state of New South Wales and the number of fires deemed “uncontrolled” has risen from 13 to 19 in the last 24 hours.
Fire officials have stated on television and radio that any resident near the fires should leave not only for their safety but to stop them from hampering the efforts of firefighters to save towns.
In a drastic attempt to control the bushfires burning toward their nation’s largest city, Australian firefighters have deliberately caused two of the biggest fires to merge.
The back burning operations near the Blue Mountains in New South Wales state were done with the expectation that weather conditions will continue to deteriorate and hamper efforts to control the flames. Currently 60 bushfires are burning in the area with 13 completely uncontained.
New South Wales Rural Fire Services Commissioner Shame Fitzsimmons told the BBC the joining of two fires at State Mine and Mount Victoria were done to keep the fires from joining with a third fire.
“We are seeing positive results of these very deliberate, very targeted, very decisive strategies being deployed particularly in relation to back-burning operations,” Fitzsimmons said. Over 1,500 firefighters are now on the scene fighting the blazes.
Parts of Sydney, the nation’s largest city, have been covered in a smoky haze for much of the week and air quality has been at dangerous levels. One man has died as a result of the flames and thousands have either fled their homes or are preparing for an evacuation if the flames continue to move toward the city.
Police say they have been able to determine that two of the bushfires were started by an 11-year-old boy.
Uncontrolled wildfires continue to rage across Australia and officials say there is a chance the flames could threaten the country’s largest city.
The government of New South Wales, the largest state in Australia, declared a state of emergency as forecasters are calling for high winds and temperatures to continue. The early start for the Australian bushfire season has already killed one person and have caused thousands to flee their homes and property.
While cooler weather had allowed firefighters to get the total amount of blazes down to 60 by Thursday, rural fire service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said the conditions are rapidly deteriorating. Other officials told the BBC that these fires are the biggest threat they’ve seen in over 40 years.
The Blue Mountains and Hawksbury communities west and north of Sydney are facing “unparalleled risk” according to local officials and embers from the flames have jumped the Nepean River from the foot of the mountains near Sydney’s suburban outskirts.
Police are preparing for mandatory evacuations.
“At the end of the day we hope to have buildings standing,” state police commissioner Alan Clarke told the London Daily Telegraph, “but if we don’t have buildings standing we don’t want bodies in them.”
