A LOCAL worker is fighting for life in hospital after he suffered burns to more than half his body in a grass fire south of Tamworth.
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The 36-year-old man, who is local to the Liverpool Plains, remains in a critical condition in Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney.
The Leader understands he suffered third-degree burns to 60 per cent of his body after a grass fire broke out on Thursday afternoon.
The man was carrying out contract work at the Caroona Feedlot off the Coonabarabran Rd at Caroona when the fire took hold in a paddock.
The man was driving a front-end loader and tried to help extinguish the blaze, but suffered severe burns to his body.
Ambulance paramedics responded and treated the man. The Westpac Rescue Helicopter was tasked with a doctor and paramedic on board and airlifted the man to Royal North Shore.
He was listed in a critical condition on Friday morning, police said.
Fire investigators were deployed to the scene on Friday to investigate what sparked the blaze, as police and SafeWork NSW piece together what happened.
“A 36-year-old man working in a front-end loader nearby attempted to assist workers to extinguish the fire but sustained burns to his body,” a SafeWork NSW spokesperson said.
“Initial inquiries indicate the incident occurred when a farm vehicle that was being used to assess grazing land sparked a fire.
“SafeWork’s investigation remains ongoing.”