Wildfire

It's awesome to watch a community rally together in response to a crisis.  Our little mountain town of Conifer has been the focus of national media attention as firefighters battle to contain a wildfire that literally exploded into life five days ago, but is thankfully greatly under control today.  27 homes in our community were damaged or completely destroyed, two people lost their lives and a third woman is still missing.  It is the most significant crisis our community has faced since we moved here three years ago and, according to other long-time residents it's the worst they've ever seen.

Photo two: only seconds later, the fire jumps the road

First photo: fire blazing on left side of the road

We first became aware of the fire on Monday afternoon.  I was resting on the couch, and as I glanced out the window I saw a strange cloud formation billowing high into the sky over the hill to the east of us.  There were no other clouds in the sky, so I thought it was kind of strange.  Daphne also noticed it and expressed concern that maybe it was a smoke plume, but I assured her that it was just a cloud (being the expert that I am on weather formations).  Probably two minutes later I got a phone call from our Senior Pastor Michael, asking if I'd heard about the fire down Foxton Road... and that was the beginning an incredible, unforgettable week.  Within minutes we sent an email out to the church asking for donations of bottled water and Gator Aid, and within the hour Michael, myself and a few other staff showed up at the High School (the designated evacuation shelter).  The Red Cross representative had only just arrived herself, so we were almost the first people on the scene.  We told her that we were from The Journey Community Church, and we were there to help in any way we could.  She wasn't sure what help was needed at that stage, so we offered to bring in a supply of water which she gratefully accepted.  It was already late afternoon and the evacuees were beginning to stream in - many of them with just the clothes on their backs, having only learned of the fire as they attempted to return home from work and were turned away by sheriff's deputies blocking the roads to their neighborhoods.  We worked with the Red Cross folks to make a plan for dinner that night, and from that point on we became the de facto meal providers for the evacuation shelter.  We were able to relieve the Red Cross team from the burden of finding enough food to feed 100-200 hungry people three times a day, which allowed them to focus their attention on caring for the housing and medical needs of those who were displaced by the fire.

The next four days are a whirlwind in my mind.  I am so proud of our staff and the volunteers from our church who worked 18 hour days, calling local restaurants and supermarkets to arrange for food donations, serving the meals and just being available to sit down with people to listen to their stories.  We made it very clear to our team that we were not there to evangelize anyone, but simply to offer a cup of cold water and an encouraging word.  It didn't take long before we were on a first-name basis with all the Red Cross volunteers and many of the evacuees,
some of whom said they were sorry to leave the shelter when their neighborhoods were re-opened because they'd so enjoyed the sense of community there.

I'll write more on our experiences from last week,  but I am off now (at 5:30!) to help prepare the food for the Men's Group breakfast this morning.  We're also going to baptize a bunch of people this afternoon - should be fun!

Officers narrowly escaped death as two of their cars burned up