All Kalindi Commerford can do is watch as the fires raging on the South Coast edge closer to her childhood home in Milton.
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The coastal town where the Hockeyroo grew up is surrounded by the ravaging Currowan fire, which has destroyed more than 304,000 hectares of land.
Lives have been lost, homes reduced to ashes, and some entire towns have been left devastated.
Commerford felt hopeless as a fire burned one kilometre from her home and the sky rained with ash. She knows what it's like to be at the mercy of nature, and that's why she's demanding more action to be done on climate change.
"I think we all need to help our planet to make sure this doesn't happen again," Commerford said.
"This is climate change. It's been happening and predicted for a while and now it is here. We have to do all we can to stop our planet from heating further.
"Individually we can all do our part, but it has to come from higher up. It's time to turn to sustainable energy sources, we need to introduce a carbon tax.
"Fossil fuel is cheap and a monopoly in its own right, but we need to stop letting money run our planet into the ground."
Commerford, who is now based in Perth, spent the festive season in Milton, and planned to celebrate the new year in Jervis Bay.
But her plans were cut short when she returned home to a tragedy.
"I saw the sun once on Christmas Day," Commerford said.
"Every day, the sky was covered in smoke. It was consistently at eye level and thick throughout town.
"I was trying to do my Olympic pre-season so I would run in it most days, but by the end of the day I had headaches and felt sick.
"Generally in the town no one seemed settled, most appreciated that we were surrounded by fires. I don't think anyone anticipated it would get to the stage it's at now though."
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The 25-year-old fled Milton on New Year's Eve and watched the fires flicker on the jet-black horizon in Jervis Bay instead of celebrating the turn of the decade.
Commerford flew back to Perth last Thursday to begin training ahead of the Hockey Pro League, which is due to start in Sydney on January 25.
The Hockeyroos will use the Pro League as a launching pad for the Tokyo Olympics, but Commerford admits it's hard to concentrate with her mother and sister left in Milton.
"It's all I can think about, even in Perth when I hear wind, helicopters or sirens I instantly think about who is in danger before reminding myself I'm no longer at home," Commerford said.
"I felt helpless in town and just as helpless while away.
"If you haven't been through it then I think it's something you can just check in on but I still feel like I'm there and I live every moment of it.
"It's surreal to see my home town and surrounding suburbs burnt to nothing. I'm in disbelief about it all.
"I'll be playing for all affected by these fires [in the Pro League], particularly the South Coast and for the firefighters who selflessly serve our country."