California wildfires weigh on Robertsons as Maple Leafs, Stars meet

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The thoughts of the Robertson brothers in the past week haven’t been too far from their family home in southern California.

As Jason and Nick have gone about their lives in the National Hockey League with the Dallas Stars and Maple Leafs respectively, they have been keeping tabs with family members who live in the Pasadena area. The Robertsons’ home is not far from the Eaton fire, one of several blazes that has been burning through neighbourhoods in the Los Angeles area.

“It’s pretty devastating, what’s going on,” the Stars’ Jason Robertson said on Tuesday. “We have our fires, but the Palisades fires are pretty bad too.

“Our house hasn’t been exactly affected, but (the fire is) right around it. It’s going to be a long time before everything is back to normal. Hopefully, it comes to an end soon.”

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One of the brothers’ sisters lives in the house. Another has been forced to evacuate her house in the area.

“Thank you to the firefighters there,” Nick Robertson said. “It’s not a very good situation, but thankfully my family is safe.

“When you hear (about) fires in California, I’ve seen fires before and it’s devastating, but one of this magnitude is crazy. Calling my parents, family members, seeing how they are doing. Fortunately, our family has not been affected by it too bad, there’s debris and still not good to home, but it’s not at the point where the house is going to go down.

“It’s a terrible situation and we’re just praying for it to end. Dealing

The brothers’ mother, Mercedes, is in town and the family went out for dinner on Monday night.

“It’s always good to see him,” Nick Robertson said of the rare in-season visit with his older brother. “We try to catch up when we can.”

tkoshan@postmedia.com

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