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By Jim Coggins
AS FOREST FIRES threatened a B.C. city late last month, some churches were in
the line of the fire, and others were trying to help out. Some were in both
categories.
Three fires broke out on the west side of Okanagan Lake on the weekend of July
18-19. They quickly became major threats, fanned by high winds and tinder-dry
conditions. Soon an estimated 11,000 people had been evacuated from their
homes.
The Glenrosa fire started first, on the edge of West Kelowna (formerly called
Westbank), and immediately became a threat to homes and businesses. Because it
was nearby, fire crews and other emergency personnel began using the parking
lot of Emmanuel Church as a staging area on July 18.
However, when the fire jumped Highway 97 and began approaching the church, fire
crews evacuated the area. Church staff quickly removed computers and other
vital documents from the building and also left – but not before church bookkeeper Marlene Beagle snapped some impressive photos
of the approaching wall of fire.
Church services were cancelled for July 19. When senior pastor Derrick Hamre was
interviewed on radio that Sunday morning, he encouraged church members to
gather together, to pray, to volunteer and to help the community.
With calmer winds and aggressive firefighting on July 19 and 20, the church and
all but three homes were saved from the flames, although some others suffered
damage.
The Rose Valley Fire was proving somewhat harder to fight due to the difficult
terrain, but was a little farther away and not considered an immediate threat
to houses. What became the largest fire, on Turtle Mountain, was even farther
away.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel Church staff worked hard to keep in touch with the
congregation and connect evacuated church members with families who could offer
billeting. Hamre and his wife Sara-Lee had five people staying with them, even
though their house was also on evacuation alert – meaning they could be told to evacuate at a moment’s notice.
Several other churches were also closed on the Sunday, including some not in the
official evacuation area. Redeemer Lutheran Church decided not to hold its
regular Sunday service for a variety of reasons: about half the congregation
had been evacuated from their homes; some roads were closed, and people were
being asked to avoid travelling on others to keep them clear for emergency
vehicles. Smoke was also an issue.
Some members of the church offered their homes for billeting. With the service
cancelled, extra work was required to pull church members together to prepare
for a vacation Bible school, scheduled for the week of July 27–31.
On its church sign, the church posted these words: “Lord protect, save, heal, comfort in Jesus’ name.” Pastor Jonathan Asmus said it was both a prayer to God, and a witness to the
community.
Churches not affected by the fires offered help in large and small ways. Members
of St. George’s Anglican Church made and took sandwiches to an emergency registration centre
every day, from the first day the fires began.
The Salvation Army provided more than 2,000 meals to displaced residents,
firefighters and other emergency staff and volunteers in the first weekend.
They had additional service vehicles and volunteers on call, in case the fires
continued to spread.
Members of many churches offered to billet evacuees in their homes, and the
offers exceeded the need. Many evacuees had gone to stay with friends or
family. Others just jumped into their RVs and drove them down to the WalMart parking lot or various
campgrounds.
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Circle Square Ranch, a Christian camp about an hour north in Armstrong, had some
vacancies for the week of July 19–25, so director Dwayne Boyd phoned churches and the evacuation centre in the
affected area, offering a free week of camp to any evacuated children.
The fires did not affect the larger city of Kelowna on the east side of Okanagan
Lake; but the fires stirred memories of 2003, when similar fires there
destroyed hundreds of homes and drove thousands of people into evacuation
centres.
Kelowna Christian Centre began collecting and delivering bedding to the main
evacuation centre in West Kelowna on the evening of July 18 – and offered other help which, at press time, had not been needed.
Trinity Baptist Church in Kelowna provided emergency lodging to evacuees, and
hosted a public meeting for people who had lost their homes in 2003.
Trinity is still listed as a possible emergency lodging or reception centre with
Emergency Social Services (ESS), but Kelowna is in a different disaster
response area than West Kelowna, and designated centres there will be used only
if the centres in West Kelowna are themselves evacuated or become overcrowded.
Trinity has offered ESS a variety of help, including prayer. ESS responded by
asking for prayer.
Prayers have been answered. By Tuesday, July 21, the Glenrosa fire was 60
percent contained; and 6,000 of the 11,000 evacuees were allowed back home,
while still being kept on alert for another evacuation. Emmanuel Church was
reopened.
This does not mean churches are relaxing their efforts. One thing they have
learned from previous fires is that “it’s not done till it’s done,” said Candace Giesbrecht, pastor of compassion and mission ministries at Trinity
Baptist.
One big wind going the wrong way, or a thunderstorm with lightning strikes,
could quickly reignite the recent fires or start new ones.
Even when the fires are over, they leave a lot of devastation and trauma behind
them.
“We know we still have a lot of work and opportunity ahead of us,” Giesbrecht said.
She encouraged churches in other communities to look at their resources and talk
to city officials about what they have to offer their communities – because disasters can strike without warning.
Giesbrecht concluded by saying it was a privilege to “be Jesus” and “serve the community in tangible ways.”
September 2009
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