Spokane fires met with compassion from Presbyterians and other caring people
Efforts by locals and PDA are aimed at helping the city and evacuees to rebound
LOUISVILLE — Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, even lack of clothes. That’s one of the promises that the Rev. Sheryl Kinder-Pyle has been standing on while watching her city endure the Spokane Complex Fires.
“We're used to wildfires in forested and remote areas,” said Kinder-Pyle, executive presbyter of the Presbytery of the Inland Northwest. “We're not used to wildfires in suburban neighborhoods.”
Presbyterians are reaching out to support the people of the Spokane area amid the destructive wildfires, which forced some evacuees to flee their homes with little more than the clothes on their backs last weekend.
“Saturday (Aug. 1) was a very frightening day,” said the Rev. John Sowers, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Spokane. "We had these winds that were consistently 20 miles an hour or more,” and it was “inevitable that if there was going to be any fire, it was going to be pretty horrific, and it sure enough was.”
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has approved a grant to the Presbytery of the Inland Northwest to supplement local efforts to rebound from the fires, which have burned more than 10,000 acres, damaged more than 900 structures and led to evacuation orders for more than 60,000 residents.
“This is by far and away the biggest natural disaster this city has ever had,” said Sowers, whose church was part of a recent effort to distribute free meals to some of those affected. "We just want to be a part of seeing the city rebound."
The Spokane area fires, consisting of the Old Trails Fire, Fairview Fire and Autumn Lane Fire, sprung last weekend and spread with the help of dry conditions and high winds. (A man has been charged with arson for allegedly starting the Old Trails Fire. Read more here.)
“It’s just been a perfect storm with the dry conditions, the drought, the high temperatures, and then if you add in the wind, that's what made the difference,” Kinder-Pyle said. “The investigation’s going on in terms of how the fire started, but my concern right now is really for all the folks who are evacuated.”
Though no deaths have been reported, people at several area churches have been impacted in other ways, and the fires still are not fully contained. Progress was made earlier this week on controlling the fires, but there are concerns that hot, dry and windy conditions will elevate the fire danger over the weekend, according to a public update on Thursday.
“We've had five pastors who were evacuated from their homes, and multiple staff — about another 10 staff across maybe seven different Presbyterian churches,” Kinder-Pyle said. Also, “there are a number of members who have been evacuated. Some have lost their homes.”
Entities that have been affected by the evacuation orders have included a few churches and Whitworth University, which had a minimal number of people on campus since it was summer break when the fires broke out. The school has received hundreds of messages and prayers.
People helping people amid uncertainty
Kinder-Pyle, who lives in a distant part of Spokane, has taken in a few folks needing a place to stay. “It’s an evolving situation,” she said. “So you just don't know when you can go back to your home, and some people have been able to go back, and some people have not.”
She’s been finding solace in the Bible, particularly Romans 8:35-39.
“We’re holding onto that promise,” said Kinder-Pyle, who came across an interpretation on an app a few days ago that used “lack of clothes,” at some points, in place of the word “nakedness” — reminding her of the current fire crisis.
She encourages Presbyterians who want to be of help to give to PDA, whose initial assistance grant to the presbytery will be used to assist those affected in the greater Spokane region, with the help of churches and partner networks.
“With those funds and some of our own funds, we will be supporting food pantries, clothing banks and a ministry called Feast World Kitchen that will be supporting folks in the community,” Kinder-Pyle said. “We're anticipating the needs to increase in that many evacuees fled fairly quickly and so were not able to gather many clothes or things of that nature. … Some of the clothing banks are in our churches, and some are, you know, in other locations that we're in relationship with.”
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson announced Aug. 4 that a federal disaster declaration had been granted to allow federal partners to mobilize resources and personnel to support the state’s response and to unlock resources for state, local and tribal governments. “We are laser-focused on getting assistance to those Washingtonians who have lost so much,” he said.
A community resource hub has sprung up, and the Washington National Guard is among those who’ve been dispatched to support firefighting operations. There also are resources from 20 states and 100 jurisdictions aiding fire suppression efforts.
For Presbyterians and others in the area, Sowers said, the wildfires have made for “a very sad time.” However, “it's also an opportunity for us to really demonstrate the love of Jesus.”
One way to accomplish that was for his church,FPC Spokane, to combine forces with Feast World Kitchen to prepare and distribute free meals to people affected by the fires. Feast World Kitchen is a nonprofit restaurant that offers international cuisine and provides immigrants and former refugees a place to develop skills and share their culture.
Working together, they initially handed out about 50 meals and distributed many additional meals to nearby emergency departments to feed patients as well as hospital workers. “All together, we distributed about 300 meals,” Sowers said. “It was just a lovely, combined effort between the folks at Feast and the folks at First Pres.”
The church itself was not damaged or evacuated but its membership was impacted. Two people lost their homes and 50 to 100 had to evacuate, with most being taken in by friends, family or other church members, he said. Also, “some of them just got out of town.”
Meanwhile, FPC Spokane has been meeting with fellow Presbyterian churches as well as other faith groups “to coordinate what our ongoing response will be as time moves forward,” Sowers said. The church also has met with officials from the city and region and leaders from nonprofits.
It’s all about “how do we care for one another?” he said. Spokane has “resilience.”
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is a ministry of Presbyterian Life & Witness. To help support PDA’s response to wildfires, go here. Find more ways to help and community resources here and here.
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