[1]CLOUDCROFT, N.M. (BP)–“God is so merciful,” declared the manager of Sivells Baptist Retreat and Conference Center the evening of May 1 as firefighters were busy trying to save camp structures from a devastating forest fire in southern New Mexico.
Only hours earlier, the Penasco Fire had unexpectedly exploded out of control near the camp and begun racing through the Sacramento Mountains of Otero County toward the tiny town of Mayhill.
At about 7:30 that evening, the Baptist New Mexican spoke by telephone with Paul Klopfer, who manages the Baptist Convention of New Mexico-owned and operated camp.
Klopfer said flames had claimed the Crusader Bathhouse and six of the eight cabins located on the lower part of the camp’s mountain. At that time, the two remaining lower cabins were untouched but underbrush near them was still burning. No trees, though, were burning at the time.
Klopfer’s wife, Sally, informed the Baptist New Mexican the morning of May 2 that the other two cabins had gone up in flames, while the Pioneer Bathhouse and two cabins at the upper part of the mountain were still intact.
Each of the cabins had been constructed by volunteers through the years at a cost of approximately $500 each, Klopfer said.
All in all, 128 beds were claimed by the flames. But the longtime camp manager sounded optimistic that the need could be addressed in the next month, before the camping season begins.
It had been a truly harrowing day not only for the Klopfers but for Baptists across the state, many of whom watched in horror on their televisions images of structures of their beloved camp beneath flames jumping from treetop to treetop as high as 100 feet in the air.
Miraculously, Klopfer said, none of the camp’s major buildings was lost, and on the evening of May 1 it looked like they would survive the inferno.
“God’s doing some great things, and he’s protecting,” Klopfer said almost out of breath, having just returned from the camp to the home of friends where he was staying.
“There’s so much that could have been lost,” he said.
Structures untouched included the dining hall; the A-frame cabin where Sivells’ program director, Wynelle Klopfer, lives; the O’Brien Motel, which was constructed in 1996; the chapel and classrooms; the recently renovated Family Retreat Center; the Rock Shop behind the chapel; the covered archery and rifle area; a building containing the nurses station and classrooms; the pavilion for RV and camper-type vehicles; a barn; a garage; and the manager’s home.
The fire began only the evening before. The next morning firefighters moved into the camp and made it their staging area for fighting the blaze.
Many New Mexicans saw Klopfer being interviewed during television news broadcasts at noon saying that the fire had gotten close to the camp but was headed away. That all changed quickly around 2 p.m., when the camp was hastily evacuated as winds picked up the flames, causing them to jump fire lines.
The Klopfers had time to only get a few valuables out of their home before having to leave.
Moments later a television reporter said Klopfer thought nothing would be left standing at the camp.
The Baptist New Mexican talked to Klopfer by phone at 2:40 p.m. Speaking from the home of friends Terry and Cindy Buttram who live near the camp, Klopfer said flames from the rapidly spreading fire had come right up to the fence line of the camp before miraculously changing course. Klopfer commended the work of firefighters, who had hosed down camp buildings.
At the time, Klopfer emphasized the necessity for prayer, since the camp and the nearby community of Mayhill, with approximately 240 residents and 180 homes and businesses, were still very much in danger.
Acreage involved in the blaze spread from 800 to 1,500 on Wednesday afternoon alone.
After notifying pastors, directors of missions, churches and associations across the state by e-mail on the status of the camp, the Baptist New Mexican spoke with Klopfer at about 4 p.m.
“It will take a miracle to save the camp,” Klopfer said, “but I believe he will.”
Half an hour later, Sally Klopfer spoke with the BCNM’s executive assistant, Nancy Faucett, by phone and said she still feared that their home, which is located across the road from the camp, could still be lost.
Thankfully it wasn’t, and a neighbor had been able to get the couple’s dog and open the gate for their cow to escape. The neighbor was unable to find the cat, however.
Sivells Camp was founded in 1963 when the BCNM purchased 168 acres of land in southern New Mexico because the convention’s only camp at the time, Inlow Youth Camp near Albuquerque, was not big enough to accommodate all the camping needs of both the Woman’s Missionary Union and the Brotherhood.
The new camp was constructed by hundreds of volunteers on weekends under the direction of H.C. Sivells, who served as director of men’s ministries in the state from 1954-71.
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