The New South Wales (NSW) Rural Fire Service (RFS) has asked a firefighter to "take a break" following heavy fatigue and an incident where he told Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to "get f**ked".
Paul Parker gave the expletive-ridden message to Morrison when he faced up to a 7News camera on Sunday.
"Tell the Prime Minister to go and get f**ked, from Nelligen," he said. Nelligen is a village on the south coast of NSW.
Parker was later seen collapsed in a heap on a roadside, and further criticised Morrison by saying he fights fires for his local community and the people of Australia.
"That's what I do it for. I don't do it for you Scott Morrison."
Morrison had previously claimed firefighters "wanted to be out there" fighting the bushfires.
After the video circulated online, a Change.org petition was created that claimed Parker was facing dismissal from the RFS.
It has currently received over 53,000 signatures and has a goal of reaching 75,000.
However, an RFS spokesperson has been forced to deny the claim of dismissal and told 7News that Parker has instead "been asked to take a break".
"It was for his own welfare that he was asked to take a break [from firefighting]," the spokesperson said, citing fatigue as the believed reason.
The spokesperson claimed the comments Parker made towards Morrison weren't a factor in him taking a break.
The bushfires have been raging since September and there are currently 139 fires burning in NSW. The national death toll for this fire season stands at 24.
