wfn.org | United Methodists help community, each other cope with fires

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

July 13, 1998        Contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
{412}

NOTE:  This story is accompanied by a sidebar, UMNS #413.

By Tita Parham*

LAKELAND, Fla. (UMNS) -- Families leaving home, not knowing if anything
would be left when they returned. Youth stranded at summer camp. A
firefighter smiling in appreciation for a hot meal. Neighbors and people
of other faiths coming together to lend a hand.

Those are just a few of the experiences shared by United Methodists in
the Florida Conference's Orlando, DeLand and Melbourne districts
following the latest resurgence of wildfires July 1. The fast-spreading
fires forced more than 120,000 people in east Central Florida to
evacuate their homes and businesses just days before the Fourth of July
weekend.

Many area residents have returned to their homes since then, and recent
rains have helped firefighters bring the flames under control.

'The work of the church'

When the sparks started flying, church members began doing all they
could to help each other, the community, and the people fighting the
blazes.

"This is the work of the church; this is what it should be doing," said
the Rev. David Harris of Mims United Methodist Church in the Melbourne
District. "I didn't think twice about opening up the church."

The church became a shelter for evacuated church members, as well as a
large-scale feeding station and rest area for firefighters and the Army
National Guard, and the command center for firefighters assigned to that
area of Brevard County. 

Located next to the community's fire station, the Mims was right in the
middle of the "fire storm," with fires burning two-and-a-half to three
miles away. Because of its proximity to the fires, the church was one of
the sites Gov. Lawton Chiles visited Tuesday, July 7.

For the most part, the church has been a haven for firefighters,
offering a resting place between shifts and three square meals a day.
Donna Harris said they came from all over Florida as well as South
Carolina and even Wyoming.

"Over 500 were here," said Donna Harris, the pastor's wife, who played a
key role in relief efforts. "We served breakfast, dinner and lunch to
all of them."

Harris said the undertaking wasn't a problem for the congregation, a
small rural church with an average attendance of about 150 members, most
of them seniors. Hundreds of people from the community volunteered to
help, many from the large Park Avenue and Temple Baptist churches. The
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts served meals one day, and restaurants donated
food.

Relief efforts disrupted the church's schedule and forced the
cancellation of regular Sunday services on July 5, but Harris said the
slower summer months have made it easier to cope.

The Rev. David Harris held a special service that day for the
firefighters and a second for the National Guard, both at their request.
The church also trained members as case managers to help victims, and it
is offering supplies such as food, water, cleaning items, baby products.

"We've moved a lot of hearts," the pastor said. "People are realizing
that Christianity is not a dull religion."

In a letter from the Collier/Lee County Task Force left in the Harrises'
office, Assistant Fire Chief Bob Potteiger said: "Your kindness for the
community was overwhelming. You all should be proud to say you're from
Brevard County." Each member of the Polk County squad signed a unit
T-shirt and presented it to Donna Harris in appreciation her work.

But for all the help the church has given, David Harris said it has
received even more.

"The church is altered forever. We've moved beyond  the walls of our
church, and I pray it doesn't stop," he said. "This is a real turning
point, a growing experience, for the
church. I would do it all again."

Churches in two of the hardest-hit areas, the DeLand District's Volusia
and Flagler counties, also  provided relief, directed by the district
office.

Churches collected offerings and relief supplies for firefighters and
fire victims, said Janet Kelley, district administrative secretary.
Pastors and church workers offered counseling assistance to victims at
the Emergency Management Center. And in the city of DeLand, where the
district office is located, Kelley helped coordinate efforts to feed
firefighters.

About 75 to 100 firefighters and volunteers were fed each night, she
said. "It's been a phenomenal effort of people coming together."

In the Orlando District, Sanlando Springs United Methodist Church was
designated by Seminole County as a pet-friendly shelter. First United
Methodist Church in Ormond Beach also opened as a shelter for local
residents and members.

The experience of working and forming relationships with the
firefighters was a blessing, Kelley said. "It was a real servant
ministry. ... You had to give what they needed."

Florida United Methodists aren't doing it alone. The United Methodist
Committee on Relief (UMCOR) sent Jim Nofzinger, a member of its
catastrophic response team who lives in Ohio, to help coordinate the
logistics of getting supplies to the right areas. UMCOR has also given
the conference $10,000 at the request of Bishop Cornelius L. Henderson
to help with relief efforts.

Fleeing the flames

Church members may have been providing relief, but some were among those
who needed help.

Thirty members of Mims United Methodist were evacuated, as were members
of Kelley's church, First United Methodist in Ormond Beach. At Palm
Coast United Methodist, 95 percent of the members were forced to
evacuate, said the Rev. Peter Cottrell, assistant pastor.

Churches and church members suffered minimal or no property damage.
However, one Palm Coast family lost its home.

Mims member Vanessa McCall, her husband and two children evacuated their
home July 1, staying one night at the church and another at the
parsonage.

She wasn't surprised by the evacuation, she said. She couldn't see
across her street because of the smoke, and ashes filled the air. Other
houses had been evacuated the day before.

Like many, they took the usual items from their home --  baby pictures,
videos, important papers. Because they had planned to leave for a
vacation trip to Pennsylvania the next day, their suitcases were already
packed.

McCall said there were several moments when she and her husband thought
they had lost their home because of reports of nearby businesses
burning.

"We thought we'd had it," she said. "Then your mind goes to town after
that."
 
The hardest part was not knowing what was happening, she said.

"From 4:30 p.m. Wednesday until Thursday morning around 10 --  for 18 to
20 hours -- we didn't know," she said. "You hear everything that's
burning, not knowing where the firefighters were going."

To keep busy, the family helped at the church. Her husband, a technician
at Kennedy Space Center, coordinated the volunteers. Their 7-year-old
daughter served drinks for three days.	

When the evacuation order was lifted, they returned home to find their
house had been saved.

"We felt we're lucky, that someone was watching over us," she said. "The
firefighters worked their butts off. They saved a lot of houses."

Kelley said seeing the firefighters' compassion for people was an
inspiration. "They're remarkable people, wonderful people. I have a real
renewed faith in humanity in general."

Kelley, who lives in Ormond Beach, was also evacuated. She had little
time to consider her situation, other than to make sure her family was
safe, gather a few items and close up her house. Then, she was back at
the office in DeLand coordinating the district's efforts.

She said church members would call their answering machines to see if
their homes were still standing, and they used the machines to stay in
touch with each other. When members were finally reunited Sunday, July
5, she said, "worship was very powerful."

A homecoming service

When the evacuation order went out for Palm Coast United Methodist
Church's area, Cottrell and the church's senior pastor were at the
Warren W. Willis United Methodist Camp in Leesburg with 25 children and
youth attending summer camp. That Saturday should have been their last
day there, but the evacuation prevented them from going home. They were
there until the following Monday, July 6, leaving just as the new group
of campers arrived.

The youth were unfazed, Cottrell said. He and the other church
chaperones didn't tell them what was happening until that Friday
evening, July 3. And with special treatment from camp organizers, they
enjoyed the extra time at camp. When parents came to pick them up, they
didn't want to leave.
 
"We really felt like we were in great shape," Cottrell said. "(Camp
organizers) did whatever they could to help. People from other churches
came over. The connection really helped out a lot."

When they finally returned home that Monday, they were met with police
cars on every corner, blue lights flashing, a dawn-to-dusk curfew, and a
Humvee at the end of the church's street, equipped with mobile rocket
launchers. 

The next evening, the church held a special service.

"As folks greeted each other, it was like everyone had not seen each
other for years," Cottrell said. "It was like homecoming."

At the service, a church member who is a deputy sheriff shared his
experiences as an emergency worker. It took mere seconds for the fire,
moving at 30 to 35 miles an hour, to jump Interstate 95, he said. At one
point, he said, deputies went from house to house, using people's garden
hoses to spray down the property.

"The firefighters clearly defended each house one at a time, letting the
fires burn up to the sod lines," Cottrell said. "You could see their
footprints where they stood.

"(The county) lost about 45 houses, but based on what we've seen, we
probably should have lost about a thousand," he said.

After Flagler County was, evacuated, it was "a county of angels,"
Cottrell said. "The only folks left in the county were the
firefighters."

# # # 

*Parham is communications director for the Florida Conference Council on
Ministries.	

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
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