A firestorm in Los Alamos, N.M., has sent more than 200 evacuees to the LifeWay conference center, Glorieta, and the doors remained open to others needing shelter and meals at the Southern Baptist facility.
Officials May 15 estimated 220 to 235 structures were destroyed and more than 450 families lost homes.
Calm weather and low temperatures helped the 1,500 people fighting the blaze get 28 percent containment. Crews were working hard to contain more of the fire before winds were predicted to pick up May 16.
Billie Koller, administration and support manager, said American Red Cross officials had called the conference center to say they would be directing more evacuees there because no more rooms were available in Santa Fe.
“We had no conferences (May 11-12), so we can accommodate them. We have contacted several local pastors who have agreed to provide counseling services if needed,” she said.
“Also, we will have a nightly chapel service for those who choose to attend.”
Koller said the conference center, operated by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), is allowing people to bring pets and other animals that were part of the evacuation.
“We have opened up our horse stables for those bringing larger animals,” she said.
Supplies gathered
Meanwhile, Baptists in Roswell, N.M., gathered supplies for the evacuees, for delivery at Glorieta, May 12.
The first Los Alamos residents at the conference center, Koller said, had been attending a conference there and had stayed over as their city was evacuated May 10.
A piano tuner from Los Alamos, Charles “Tex” Felts, who annually spends the month of May at Glorieta preparing pianos for use during summer conferences, believed he saw the remains of his home on the news, though he had not received any official word that his was one of the homes that was destroyed.
The fire had been set by the National Park Service May 4 to clear brush but quickly flared out of control, racing through stands of pine trees as it grew to burn some 44,323 acres, authorities said.
At the Los Alamos National Laboratory, flames singed a research building, but it did not ignite.
Explosives and radioactive material were protected in fireproof facilities, lab officials told The Associated Press.
David Sims, pastor of First Baptist Church, Los Alamos, told Baptist Press their facilities escaped the brunt of the firestorm.
Most of the fire damage happened on the east side of Diamond Drive, a main thoroughfare. The church is located on the west side of the road.
While the pastor’s home and the church were spared, Sims said he was afraid many church members lost their homes to the raging blaze.
Sims and his family evacuated to Albuquerque. “I don’t know what God’s purpose is,” Sims said. “But His purposes are not going to be stopped by any man.”
Residents in Los Alamos were originally evacuated to neighboring White Rock. However, at 1 a.m. May 11, authorities ordered residents to evacuate that town as well.
Sims commended the staff of White Rock Baptist Church for opening their church to the community. “They did an outstanding job of helping people and calming people down,” Sims said, referring to senior pastor Chuck McCullough and associate pastor Dave Fabry.
Prior to the evacuation, the church turned Sunday School rooms into bedrooms for the Los Alamos evacuees. They also prepared numerous meals and used the worship center as a Red Cross command post.
Walt Gragert, pastor of First Baptist Church of Espanola, told Baptist Press several Japanese workers were using their church as an evacuation center, but he wasn’t sure how long the facility would remain open.
Mickey Caison, the SBC’s disaster relief coordinator, said churches or individuals wanting to assist families burned out by the fires should contact the Red Cross. (BP)
Share with others: