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

