16 | JANUARY 30 • 2020
Jews in the D
F
or many Americans, Australia
tends to be of sight, out of mind.
But wildfires have been burning
out of control throughout the country
since September 2019, and their
staggering destruction is being felt by
many local residents with connections
to the area.
According to CNN, 29 people have
died and more than a billion animals
have been killed in the fires. More
than 3,000 homes and businesses have
been destroyed and more than 7.3
million hectares (17.9 million acres) of
Australia have been burned.
It is heartbreaking for anyone to hear
about such an enormous
amount of devastation, but
locals who called Australia
home before they settled in
Detroit are extra concerned.
Da-vid Rosenthal has
lived in Oak Park for
five years with his wife, Rachel, and
their five children. He is currently the
office manager at insurance company
Ayzertech. He was born and raised
in Sydney, where most of his family,
including his parents, siblings, aunts,
uncles and cousins still live.
“It’
s stressful not having a clear
picture of what’
s going on,” Rosenthal
said. “The information we get here in
Detroit is vague and at times inaccurate
and doesn’
t always put things in
perspective. It’
s a challenge not knowing
how the people you care about are
doing.”
Rosenthal calls his family often and
says the fires are about 45 minutes away
from them. Still, the blazes seem to
be impacting everyone in the country.
“It’
s the ash that’
s affecting everyone.
My mother has a hard time leaving the
house — her asthma gets really bad
because of it,” Rosenthal said.
Most shocking for Rosenthal was
hearing general news reports that some
of the fires were started by people.
“Growing up in Australia, the idea
of starting a fire was so taboo and so
looked down on, it was not something
that you would expect would ever
happen. And yet, in this instance, I’
ve
heard that some people actually started
fires. It’
s completely astounding,” he
said.
Da-vid
Rosenthal
Fire Back
Home
Australian Detroiters react
to massive fi
res ravaging
their native country.
ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Aerial view of
Australian bush fire
destruction, including
burned property
ISTOCK
ISTOCK
The Gregory fire near Queensland