SPOKANE, Wash. (BP) – More than 65,000 people have been evacuated, and more than 700 structures have burned in wildfires in eastern Washington that began last week. Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown called the fires the “worst natural disaster” in the region’s history.
Churches are stepping up to provide food and shelter to evacuees, said Gary Floyd, Disaster Relief leader for the Northwest Baptist Convention.
“We’ve had for the last month, fires going on all over the Northwest,” Floyd said. “… Our emphasis in the Northwest is on ‘disaster-ready church.’ … It helps us multiply the effectiveness of what we’re able to do.”
Three separate fires – the Autumn Lane, Old Trails and Fairview fires – have burned more than 8,000 acres and were zero percent contained as of Monday afternoon (Aug. 3), though officials believe improving weather conditions will help.
Floyd said many of the shelters don’t have a lot of people, as evacuees stay with family and friends. However, the Red Cross has set up a shelter at the Spokane Convention Center that has housed a few hundred people.
Churches from the Inland Empire Baptist Association are setting up a feeding operation, though the situation is fluid, he said. The real work will come when the fires are over.
“Some of the municipalities we deal with have expressed hazmat concerns related to ash-out that we’ve historically done …,” Floyd said. “They will allow us to work with the residents for personal property recovery. And that’s been a very significant ministry contact.”
Floyd said some have been surprised by the speed of the fires.
“The general population, their awareness of a wildfire is built around the fireplace they have in their house,” he said. “A wildfire generates temperatures that are five, six, seven times hotter than anything you would ever put in your fireplace.” A wildfire can “burn a house to the ground in a matter of minutes,” he said.
Floyd added that the sheer number of disasters this year has been daunting.
“California’s got fires, New Mexico has fires, Colorado has fires,” he said. “Then when you start getting into the central part of the country … from a disaster relief perspective, this has been an unbelievable year. It’s almost like a cafeteria where you can wake up in the morning and say, ‘Do I want to go and help with fire response or flooding or earthquakes or. …’ It’s all over the place. Everybody’s doing something.”
Still, Floyd said he has heard from DR leaders at several other state Baptist conventions offering support.
“That’s one of the great benefits, or great dynamics about Southern Baptist Disaster Relief,” he said. “Whenever anything happens, everybody is basically right there to say, ‘OK, let us know how we can pray for this.’”
A critical need right now is prayer for DR workers, Floyd said. “OK, God, what are you up to? And how can we be a part of communicating that even on your worst day, there is a God that loves you and cares about you.”
Next is financial gifts. Giving money is the “most efficient thing people can do,” he said. “There’s always going to be expenses. … [Money is] easy to transport. You don’t have to have any special permission.”
Floyd also urged churches to become “disaster-ready churches” by getting trained and equipped.
“This is a crazy time we’re in where you literally can spin the globe and throw down your finger and know there’s going to be an option for you to respond there,” he said.
Donations to relief efforts in the Northwest Baptist Convention can be made at https://www.nwbaptist.life/give.
