Calgary woman helping Australians recover from wildfires

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – A Calgary woman is heading to Australia to help those displaced by massive wildfires.

Tammy Suitor will be leaving Tuesday with the charity organization Samaritan’s Purse, who is already on the ground assisting those who have lost homes.

“Things like ash lifting, helping people to find possessions that might be salvageable,” Suitor said. “Debris cleanup, property cleanup. We have fire kits that we give out to homeowners with different things to help them in the cleanup.”

WATCH: Alberta wildfire fighters head to Australia

Suitor has had experience dealing with disasters, having volunteered following the southern Alberta floods in 2013 and the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian on Prince Edward Island.

“We have several volunteers that are former firefighters that have helped us with their procedures and being able to serve communities safely and well. Of course, we’re not first responders, but we go in there after the fact and we help people clean up and try to move forward and recover.”

Samaritan’s Purse currently has four disaster relief units in Canada dispatched to help in situations across the country including the Fort McMurray wildfire.

“We know the level of devastation wildfires bring to communities here in Canada. Our hearts break as we see their impact across Australia,” said Brent Davis, director of Canadian ministry projects with Samaritan’s Purse.

Suitor will spend several days in Sydney organizing the resources for three Samaritan’s Purse groups currently in Australia.

Right now, she’s not certain when she will return to Canada.

“I think it’s fairly overwhelming for people and for their first responders as well, they’ve been fighting this for months. There’s kind of no end in sight.”

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