Australia A forest fire water bomber today was on duty in southwest Sydney, killing three crew members.

New South Wales Rural Fire Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said authorities lost contact with Canadian-owned C-130 Hercules aircraft around 13:30 when it was operating in the Snowy Monaro area.

Fitzsimmons said the three killed were all US citizens, one of the countries that sent professional fire teams to assist Australia in dealing with the wildfire disaster.

"We offer our condolences to those who are suffering the loss of the death of three respectable crew members who have spent dozens of years working as firefighters," said Fitzsimmons.

The incident has increased the number of victims of forest fires in Australia to at least 32 since the catastrophic outbreak in September last year. The cause of the accident is unclear, but according to Fitzsimmons, the strong wind blowing this morning caused "a lot of difficulties" for planes carrying large containers.

Canadian company Coulson Aviation, which owned the plane in distress, suspended the operations of other fire fighters operating in New South Wales and Victoria to "conduct an evaluation".

Australian bushfires over the past few months burned millions of hectares of forests and killed about one billion animals. Australian officials have worked hard to cope with the crisis with support from countries such as the US, Canada and New Zealand.

Forest fires often occur in Australia in the summer, when the weather is hot and dry, causing the fire to easily spread and spread quickly. However, this year's wildfires came early and abnormally long. Most states in Australia have experienced fires, but Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia are the places most affected.