PARADISE, Calif. (BP) — Members of Paradise Ridge Southern Baptist Church have asked pastor Bob Sorensen if they will continue to have a church but not because their building is gone. They ask because the Camp Fire destroyed much of their community.
“We’ve had disasters before, and we thought we would be able to just go back,” Sorensen said. “But you can’t go back.”
Soldiers sift through what’s left of a burned-down home in Paradise, Calif., looking for human remains. Screen capture from CNNWhile the church still stands — “an amazing thing,” he said — Sorensen’s home was destroyed by the fire.
“I still have people from the church who are missing that I can’t find,” he said. “I spend hours a day trying to find them.”
On the day the blaze overwhelmed Paradise, Sorensen and his wife Linda got the call that their granddaughter’s school was being evacuated. The typically 15-minute drive turned into an hour and a half. It required five hours of driving amid fire and smoke to make it down the ridge and into safety.
“It was wall-to-wall traffic trying to get out,” Sorensen said. “There were flames and smoke. It never turned daylight that day.”
With 77 reported deaths and counting — and an additional 993 unaccounted for — the Camp Fire has officially become the most lethal in California’s history. More than 12,790 residential and commercial structures have been destroyed.
“The fire came on so fast, and it was just mass confusion,” said Mike Bivins, the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) director for California Baptists. The roads into and out of the towns of Paradise and Magalia are limited.
Bob Sorensen, pastor of Paradise Ridge Southern Baptist Church in Paradise, Calif., continues to check for church members still missing from the Camp Fire wildfire. “I spend hours a day trying to find them.” Submitted photo“The fire seems to have trapped more people than was originally figured,” he said.
Bivins has heard horror stories like Sorensen’s from survivors in shelters who had to run and drive for their lives to escape the fire.
First responders continue search and rescue efforts, using cadaver dogs to help find victims. Emergency utility crews are traveling into the area to ensure that electricity, propane and gas will not create hazards for residents when they are allowed to return.
Once the responders complete their jobs, Bivins and SBDR will begin cooperating with churches in the region, assessing how best to support the pastors, congregations and communities, many of whom have lost homes and loved ones.
“We are working with the local pastors to assess the needs and discern the best way to reach the community,” Bivins said. “We don’t know what the needs are right now other than prayer, gift cards and other financial support.”
Bivins mentioned that non-perishable items such as clothes and blankets are not needed at this time.
For now, SBDR chaplains are serving with the American Red Cross to provide spiritual care for those in shelters, and a laundry and shower unit has been set up at First Baptist Church of Gridley for survivors in the area.
In Paradise and Magalia, three Southern Baptist churches miraculously survived the blaze: Paradise Ridge, First Baptist Church Paradise and Magalia Pines Baptist Church.
Charles Woods, the associational missions strategist for the local Sierra Butte Baptist Association, stays in touch with those pastors every day.
“I would ask for all of us … for prayer about how to minister to everyone best,” Woods said. “Pray for the knowledge and wisdom to know what to say and what to do in the way that they best need it. That’s my heart’s desire right now.”
For Paradise, residents are wondering what the next steps will be for their community, but when people ask pastor Sorensen if he plans to stay, he says that decision is not his to make.
“As long as God keeps me there, I’m going to stay,” he said, “because I know there are people who are going to need help.”
Article has been updated to reflect updated fatality, unaccounted and damage figures.
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