14.7 million acres, or just over half the size of Newfoundland, has been scorched by out of control bush fires in Australia over the last few months.

October 27, 2019

24 people have died, including 18 from New South Wales, which is where former Moose Jaw resident Jennifer Fortin now lives.

Fortin moved to Australia from 2012 to 2015, before moving back permanently in 2017. She's currently living in Port Macquarie, which is located on the East coast about 5 hours north of Sydney.

The largest fires that crews are dealing with are south of Port Macquarie, along the east coast near Sydney and the Blue Mountains, as well as the southeast corner of the country. There are also a number of fires burning on the northeast corner.

Fortin says the area she lives in relatively safe at the moment.

"We actually had the out of control fires at the very beginning of this bush fire season starting around Halloween and going the first couple weeks of November. We've had some friends who had to evacuate to our house, and I've been evacuated from work. But it's been well under control since November in our area."

"In those bush fire effected areas it is really scary and really crazy. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law were feeding firefighters, and the fire blew right over top of that town.

Over looking the ocean November 2017 They are not trained in fire fighting, but they had to help fight that fire. Things like that are happening all over the country."

One positive that has come from the situation in Australia says Fortin, is just how effectively the community came together to help everyone out.

"Lots of donations were coming in. People that own small businesses including hotels and motels were donating their rooms to the Royal Fire Services or to people that had to evacuate. Cafe owners were donating meals, even the large supermarkets were donating large quantities of water and supplies that were needed in the field for the firefighters out there. It was great."

And while Canada is 14,000km away from the land down under, you can still help through a few different avenues.

"If you go to the Royal Fire Services New South Wales website or the Red Cross Australia website, those 2 are taking donations and making sure they get where they need to be. For those who are interested in donating toward the wildlife, the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital has been taking donations and been spreading it equally throughout all the wildlife conservation projects around the country."

Fortin says residents are still being warned that more heatwaves are expected.

Port Macquarie water front April 2018, Port Macquarie waterfront Nov 8, 2019