Allyson was in intensive care
for three months. She still has physical therapy every day. Ashleigh
was honored with a well-attended memorial at the family’s
home church, Westminster
Presbyterian in Escondido.
“It’s difficult, but ... our faith is very strong,”
Lori Roach said in a recent interview. “We never really
got angry at God. We just felt disappointed.”
The fire that consumed the Roaches’ house came to be known
as the Paradise fire, named for a small town in the area. It was
one of three wildfires that burned a 40-mile swath from Valley
Center to Tijuana, Mexico, blackening 400,000 acres, destroying
2,400 homes and killing at least 17 people. People as far away
as Texas smelled the smoke.
“The fire comes through fast and furious,” said Mario
Janesin, an employee of the Presbytery of Riverside. “That’s
what happened down here in San Bernardino. They lost a couple
of hundred homes. ... The wind was blowing 60 miles an hour, and
it just went poof.”
Ashleigh was one of two people killed by the Paradise fire, which
authorities believe was started purposely. It destroyed 221 homes
in and around Valley Center, scorched 56,000 acres and injured
scores of people. Fire crews worked 12 days before it was contained.
Presbyterians in the San Diego, Riverside and Santa Barbara presbyteries
were hit especially hard. Wylie
Woods, one of two conference facilities owned by the Synod
of Southern California and Hawaii, sustained major damage in the
inferno.
At least 25 Presbyterian families lost homes, including 14 belonging
to members of Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church in
San Diego.
“They’ve gone through different stages,” the
Rev. David Turner, an associate pastor, said of the fire victims.
“Everything from anger to acceptance to hope. ... For the
longest time there was anger at God, anger at the community. A
lot of times, they just wanted to be left alone.”
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
(PDA) has divided a total of $129,200 among three middle governing
bodies in Southern California to help with recovery and rebuilding
efforts. Some of the money came from the denomination’s
One Great Hour of Sharing offering; most was contributed specifically
for wildfire response.
The Presbytery of San Diego received $60,000; the Presbytery
of Riverside was issued $33,500; and the Synod of Southern California
and Hawaii got $35,700 to help clean up and reopen Wiley Woods.
“The facility is still beautiful,” camp director
Donna Ward said. “You can’t tell there was a fire
until you come all the way to the bottom of the driveway and actually
turn to where the old lodge was. We lost about six acres, including
four buildings.” Wiley Woods closed after the fire but has
since reopened.
PDA funds also have been used to buy emergency supplies, provide
operational support during the initial recovery stage, help with
tree and debris clearing and support long-term recovery groups,
said Stan Hankins, PDA’s associate for U.S. disaster response.
He said some money also will be used to help families whose homes
were uninsured or underinsured or who lost their livelihoods.
“One of the things that we’re hearing is there’s
still concern with the number of dead trees that remain in the
region,” Hankins said. “What really fueled a lot of
that fire were those dead pine trees that had succumbed to the
Pine Bark Beetle. So we anticipate requests for assistance ...
to clear some of those dead trees, so they don’t become
fuel for another fire.”
In most cases, rebuilding hasn’t started in earnest. Many
survivors are still plodding through red tape, clearing debris
and negotiating with insurance companies.
It’s hard to comprehend the extent of the disaster.
“You drive and you drive and you drive, and it’s
still burned,” said the Rev. Robert “Bob” Davis,
moderator of the Presbytery of San Diego’s disaster assistance
response team (DART). “It was an impossible situation for
firefighters.
“Judging from what experts have talked about in terms of
other fires, it’s not uncommon for a year to 18 months to
be needed just to clear the land.”
Davis is associate pastor of the Roaches’ home church,
which helped the family establish a trust fund to help pay for
Allyson’s continuing medical care. He said the presbytery
may use some PDA funds to help further with those expenses and
to help provide housing for volunteer cleanup crews, especially
those in Valley Center and Lakeside, where more than 500 families
lost homes.
“The amount of support we’ve received for this was
just unbelievable,” Lori Roach said. “It’s what
pulled us through.”
For example, she said, a prayer group from her church often gathered
outside the ICU to pray for Allyson. The family was remembered
every Sunday in worship, and Davis and others often call on the
Roaches in their temporary rental home.
The Presbytery of Riverside reported that at least 11 Presbyterians
within its boundaries lost homes, all worshippers at First
Presbyterian Church of San Bernardino.
“Right now the priority is to get the lots cleaned of the
dust from the debris and ashes so that they can decide to rebuild,”
said the Rev. Jeffrey Silliman, executive presbyter. “Then
the money will go to help those people buy materials as they do
rebuild. Volunteer labor is being lined up to help out.”
The presbytery also is using some PDA money to support long-term
recovery organizations including Rebuilding Mountain Hearts and
Lives, a group based in the San Bernardino mountains that was
created in the wake of the fires. The Rev. Bill Stanley, the pastor
of Lake Arrowhead Community Presbyterian Church is a founding
member who serves on its board of directors.
Stanley put together a community worship service based on PDA
materials called “Out of Chaos Comes Hope,” and his
group brought in the Rev. Warren Dale, a Methodist minister, to
train caseworkers to help survivors.
Contributions for relief and cleanup efforts can be made through
congregations or sent to the Presbyterian Center, Central Receiving
Service, Section 300, Louisville, KY 40289. Refer to designated
account number 9-2000165.
To give by credit card, call PresbyTel at (800) 872-3283 or visit
PDA’s secure Web
site.
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