After watching flames wipe out entire communities in Australia, a group of Aussies in Edmonton will be meeting tomorrow to figure out how they can help displaced victims in that country’s worst fire disaster to date.
Greg Fox, a president with the Down Under Club of Edmonton, says members will be gathering at the Wunder Bar pub on Whyte Avenue this week to talk about a possible fundraiser to help victims.
“We may, as a club, make a donation to the Red Cross in Australia, but I have yet to talk with the other members,” he said. “That’s something that will be a possibility after our meeting.”
News of the disaster has seen many of the club’s members glued to the TV, says Fox, who’s worried about a friend who lives in the outer edge of the fire zone in a suburb of Melbourne.
Fox, who has lived through a devastating fire in Tasmania, said he heard from his friend late Sunday who admitted the fire swept through some communities within five minutes.
“Australia lives with bushfires every year, it’s just the nature of the country, but quite often it can get pretty bad, such as the case here,” said Fox.
A former member of the club also lost his entire extended family to the blaze, said member Mike Hogan, as the group gets ready for its meeting.
“We’re trying to get a hold of him,” said Hogan.
