2003 California Wildfires

Remembering fireman’s family "Obviously, we need to keep Steve Rucker's family in our prayers, and I hope every Californian will," California Gov. Gray Davis said of the 38-year-old firefighter killed Oct. 29 as he battled a wildfire to save a home. Photo by Morris Abernathy

SAN DIEGO (BP)--California Gov. Gray Davis urged Californians to pray for victims and firefighters Oct. 30 as the state's worst-ever wildfires raged on. He also praised the religious community for their ministries amid the tragedy.
      San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy, meanwhile, told Baptist Press that, in handling governmental duties amid tragedy, "I believe God has been with me through this. He has been my major source of strength."

Providing meals Southern Baptist volunteers prepared thousands of meals for people displaced by the fires in Southern California. Photo by Morris Abernathy

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (BP)--Three California Southern Baptist Convention mobile kitchens and a portable shower unit have been deployed in Southern California to minister to those affected by wildfires raging throughout the region.
      The ministries marked the initial stages of a response that Southern Baptist Disaster Relief officials say will involve volunteers from multiple states.

Hoping for the best A Red Cross camera crew interviewed a man named Ray in an evacuation shelter. The man heard reports that his home was destroyed, but he told the crew he was hoping those reports were wrong. Photo by Morris Abernathy

      Don Hargis, disaster relief coordinator for the California convention, reported that one of the mobile kitchens and a portable shower unit have been stationed at the San Bernardino Airport, one of the region's key shelters, with more than 1,800 people displaced by the fires. Southern Baptist volunteers prepared 2,000 meals each for lunch and dinner on Oct. 29. Another 100 people are housed at an overflow shelter at Immanuel Baptist Church in Highland.

Searching for mementos Laura Carrasco, a member of Immanuel Baptist Church in Highland, Calif., searches through the rubble of her home to recover a few photos. Carrasco’s mother worked more than one job to pay for the house that the family moved into in 1954, and when her mother died two years ago, she told Carrasco the house was her gift to the family. Photo by Morris Abernathy

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (BP)--Fire victims at the largest evacuation site in Southern California are being fed, provided showers and even entertained, by local Southern Baptists.
      A group of 50 students from California Baptist University in Riverside, for example, helped serve dinner Oct. 29 to the 1,800-plus people at the San Bernadino Airport evacuation site; the students also picked up trash and debris around the facility.
      Of the 32 shelters open in Southern California to house fire evacuees, the San Bernardino Airport location is the largest, Frank Forsey, one of the managers of the shelter run by the American Red Cross, said.
      Church members from various Baptist congregations have been staffing a mobile kitchen and a six-stall shower unit provided by the California Southern Baptist Convention.

Assessing the needs Don Hargas, right, director of disaster relief for Southern Baptists in California, talks with Red Cross official Bill Frazer about meeting wildfire evacuees’ needs at the San Bernardino airport, where a Baptist mobile kitchen was helping feed 2,000 people. Photo by Morris Abernathy

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (BP)--Southern Baptist public safety chaplains aren't fighting wildfires in Southern California, but they are at the front lines of grief faced by the hundreds of families who have lost their homes, possessions, pets and even loved ones.
      The fires, now blamed for at least 16 deaths, had destroyed nearly 2,000 homes as of early Oct. 29. Thousands, unsure whether they will be able to return to their homes, remain in evacuation centers.

Afternoon angst On what otherwise would have been a sunny day in Southern California, smoke, ash and haze from spreading wildfires cloud the air, and a residue of gray ash covers most everything. Photo by Morris Abernathy

SAN DIEGO (BP)--Two Baptist churches in San Diego County within the raging wildfires' striking distance stopped Sunday morning services to evacuate and help fire victims.
      First Baptist Church of Tierrasanta was saved as the fire skirted around it and First Baptist Church of Mira Mesa saw flames as close as a half-mile away.
      "God intervened," said Wayne Wester, pastor of the Mira Mesa church.
      Two dozen families of the Mira Mesa congregation, mostly those living in the Scripps Ranch area that was completely evacuated, were displaced from their homes and were still waiting Oct. 29 to hear whether they still have a place to call home.