New South Wales' Rural Fire Service is denying claims a volunteer firefighter filmed with an expletive-laden rant towards the Prime Minister is facing dismissal.
Yesterday the Nelligen firefighter, later identified as Paul Parker, had a fierce and blunt message for Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
He approached a news camera while on his way to battle a blaze, saying: "Tell the Prime Minister to go and get f***ed from Nelligen."
Mr Parker was later seen collapsing from exhaustion while working to extinguish one of the bushfires.
A petition quickly popped up on Change.org claiming the firefighter was facing dismissal from the RFS.
"Paul had been working for days with little sleep and little food to save strangers properties selflessly putting himself in harms way. please everyone show your support for paul (alias) and sign this petition [sic]," petition organiser Melissa Gordon wrote.
It's already received more than 53,000 signatures since it was created.
But this afternoon, RFS told Australian media it wasn't true. A spokesperson says Parker was "asked to take a break" and can return when he wants to.
"It was for his own welfare that he was asked to take a break [from firefighting]," he told 7 News this morning, denying that the comments about Mr Morrison contributed to the decision.
Mr Parker remains a volunteer with RFS and will be welcome back, the spokesperson says.
Change.org has since added a warning flag to the petition, saying: "Change.org has received flags from our users that the statements in this petition may be contested. You should consider researching this issue before signing or sharing."
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