Almeda Fire

2020 has been a hard year and it isn’t getting any easier. The month of August brought the worst fire season I have seen in my lifetime. September hit with a fire ball.

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Rick started making calls to local churches to see if there was anyone who could take evacuees and give them shelter. This advanced to people giving donations of clothing and food supplies for the victims displaced by the fires.

We gathered the items in a covered trailer and headed south. The devastation caused by the fire can’t be put into words. More like questions. How can this happen in a large city? How can this happen in America? Is this really Oregon that I am walking through?

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We were given a list of addresses from people who just “needed to know.” Needed to know if the house was a total loss, locate an item, confirm if it is still standing, and so on. We could tell shock had started setting in from the items we were sent to find in desolate areas.

What was shocking to us was what survived and what didn’t during this fiery inferno. The homes around these items were completely gone, yet some things remained without a mark on it. We drove by a Disney plastic chair lying on its side in a small patch of green grass completely intact, and not a mark on it, yet the house nearest it, was leveled to the ground.

We did have a couple of positive endings. We did find one apartment complex untouched and was able to give comfort to that family. Another one, we were able to find a motor home with minimal damage that the family would be able to use for a home. However, mostly it was complete and utter destruction. No identifying markers left to distinguish between properties. Bits and pieces of the items left behind by the fire. With no rhythm or reason to what survived and what didn’t.

At the last place we stopped at, I found this angel looking over the burned unit. Mostly untouched. Sitting so peacefully in the quiet. I can’t explain the hush that was there. It was as if the earth was grieving for its loss as well. No hustle and bustle people. No hum from the electricity. Just silent.

Thank you all for the prayers you are sending to the victims of the Oregon fires. You are making a difference in this time of shock. Your donations were greatly appreciated. Thank you for continuing to keep the first responders and our Chaplains in your prayers. As you read this, the evacuees now are being allowed into the devastated areas to see first hand what happened to their properties. Now more than ever, they need our prayers as the grieving process begins.

Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be at your side and will keep your foot from being snared. Proverbs 3:25-26 NIV

If you would like to give a donation so that our hard working Chaplains can continue to help these victims, go to: https://sopsc.wufoo.com/forms/s1yi7fxa17ulj5p/

Thank you.