September 3, 2009

CHICAGO – Lutherans in southern California continue to monitor the Station Fire in Los Angeles County, which began Aug. 26. According to Tempie D. Beaman, the fire may not be contained until Sept. 15.

Beaman is Lutheran Disaster Response (LDR) coordinator, Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest, Los Angeles. LDR is a collaborative ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

There are about 20 active fires in California. The largest is the Station Fire, measuring more than 200 square miles. "That's larger than the City of Chicago I'm told," Beaman said. "The governor has declared a state of emergency for Los Angeles County and other counties in the state to ensure that firefighting resources are available," she said.

There are eight Lutheran congregations in the fire area. "Several have members who were evacuated. At this time there is no information regarding whether members or churches have lost property," Beaman said.

About 28 percent of the Station Fire is contained. To date the fire has burned 140,150 acres of land, 62 residences, three commercial properties and 27 buildings. Two firefighters were killed and three civilians suffered burns, Beaman reported.

Some mandatory evacuations are expected to be lifted in the evening of Sept. 2, while others remain in effect in Los Angeles County.

"We're in fire season all year long given the drought conditions of the past three years," Beaman said, adding that recovery services for fires in 2007 have just closed. Recovery services for fires in 2008 may continue to the early part of 2010.

Information about Lutheran Disaster Response is at http://www.ldr.org/, on the Web.

ELCA News Service