Massive wildfires are still burning throughout Australia.
It’s a situation that hits close to home for one Ontario Tech University women’s hockey player whose family lives in the country.
Emily Davis-Tope is thousands of kilometres away from home but the first-year Ridgeback checks in with her family in Australia every day.
“I know that my loved ones are safe at the moment, so it’s more of just sadness for the rest of the country,” said Davis-Tope.
The Ontario Tech kinesiology student already has a lot on her plate with hockey and class and now she’s paying extra close attention to the massive bushfires Down Under.
“It’s the worst that it’s ever been. It’s really devastating for me to see, being on the other side of the world,” said Davis-Tope.
“We’ve just been shrouded in smoke, air quality has been really poor,” said Marg Tope, Davis-Tope’s mom.
While her home in Bendigo is far enough from where the fires are, Tope knows that with the dry conditions, the family is just one lightning strike away from having to evacuate.
“We have our Canadian passports and Australian passports packed up at the front of the door and if we have to get out… we just go,” said Tope.
Davis-Tope was able to go back home over the Christmas break.
“It was 45 (C) one day I was home, which is really, really hot. Never experienced that before,” said Davis-Tope.
The fires in southeast Australia have taken at least 26 lives, killed over a billion animals and destroyed more than 2,000 homes.
“The area that’s burnt within the fires is super significant,” said Brent Clayton, Founder of Fire Recruitment Australia and a firefighter. “They’ve been doing overlays that cover some countries like the U.K., or parts of them,”
Clayton says while there’s no end in sight, the fires will come to an end eventually. Right now the focus is on limiting the destruction.
“The amount of manpower out there and the required continuous commitment to continue the efforts, it’s pretty immense,” said Clayton.
As for Davis-Tope, she’ll keep physically plugging away in Canada, with her heart in Australia, hoping this ends soon.
“Honestly, it just makes me want to cry,” said Davis-Tope.
Relief efforts for the wildfires have been pouring in from around the globe. The Ontario Tech University Ridgebacks are planning on helping as well.