Wildfires continue to cause destruction in California’s wine region. The death toll from the fires is also rising.
According to ABC News, 23 people have now lost their lives in the blazes. Additionally, thousands of homes, businesses, and properties have been destroyed.
At least 8,000 firefighters are working to battle the 22 wildfires which have already burned through 170,000 acres of land. At least 20,000 residents have been forced to evacuate.
California’s Gov. Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency in three counties: Napa, Sonoma, and Yuba.
"Life is more important than property,
" Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano said at a press conference Tuesday, warning people that it is better to wait for the fires to be put out than to go back home to assess the damage prematurely.
Giordano added that he believes the wildfires will be “one of the worst natural disasters in California history.”
California resources are stretching thin, so federal reinforcements, as well as firefighters, medical personnel, and other officials have come from neighboring states to assist in the effort to get the wildfires under control.Firefighters are facing an uphill battle as winds are only strengthening the blazes and the weather forecast predicts they could grow even stronger by the weekend.
Couple Married 75 Years Die Together in Fire
Charles and Sara Rippey met in grade school in Wisconsin and were together ever since. They attended the University of Wisconsin and married in 1942 before Charles served in the US Army during World War II.
The couple celebrated their seventy-fifth wedding anniversary last year. Charles was one hundred years old; Sara was ninety-eight and had suffered a stroke. They lived together in their home in Napa, California.
This week, they died together.
After wildfires ravaged their community, one of their sons discovered their bodies. Charles fought through the intense heat and smoke and almost made it to his wife’s side. His son found their remains near each other.
“My father certainly wouldn’t have left her,” he told reporters. Only metal and porcelain survive in the charred remains of their home—coffee cups on a low sill, a porcelain tea set, and two metal chairs side-by-side.
The Rippeys are making headlines because their lifelong commitment to each other strikes a chord in our souls. We sense somehow that what they had is what we want. We know that there is more to life than what a fire can consume.
Richard Simmons III is founder and executive director of The Center for Executive Leadership. In The True Measure of a Man, he notes that we have shifted from a production economy to a consumer economy. As a result, we measure ourselves not by what we do but by what we own. Our work is a means to our wealth.
And in a culture driven by social media and instant celebrity, we measure ourselves by how others measure us. Simmons quotes professor Christopher Lasch, who observed that people “would rather be envied for their material success than respected for their character.”
Marcus Aurelius noted that “the true worth of a man is to be measured by the objects he pursues.” What “objects” should we pursue?
Remember Paul’s answer: “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8). Paul the Pharisee knew about God. Paul the Jesus-follower knew God.
How intimately do you know God today?
According to Jesus, there are only two priorities that matter: loving God and loving others (Matthew 22:37, 39). When we understand how deeply and passionately we are loved by our Father, we are freed from the need to justify our lives and impress our culture. We are freed to love the One who loves us and to love everyone he loves.
And we find a life purpose no fire can destroy.
In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is fired from his job and takes his own life. His older son explains why: “He had the wrong dreams. All, all, wrong.” His younger son protests, “Don’t say that!” The older son answers, “He never knew who he was.”
Do you know who you are? More importantly, do you know whose you are?
CA Couple Finds Wife’s Wedding Ring in Remains of Burned Home
Wildfires continue to cause devastation to Southern California. Nearly 100,000 acres of land have been scorched and thousands of residents have been left homeless.
Don and Julie Myers were among the many Southern Californians who lost their home in the raging fires, which have been exacerbated by the strong Santa Ana winds. In the midst of this devastation, however, the Myers found a glimmer of hope.
Upon returning to their destroyed home on Wednesday, the Myers found Julie’s wedding ring among the rubble and ashes.
Don got down on one knee right there and proposed again to Julie, who of course said yes. The couple is reportedly in good spirits, despite the losses they have suffered.
Firefighters are working tirelessly to contain four different wildfires in the region. According to The Washington Post, major highways have been shut down and more evacuation warnings have been issued.
The Thomas Fire, which was responsible for burning down the Myers’ home, is the biggest of the four blazes and currently is burning about 150 square miles in Ventura County.
More evacuations are continuing today as the fires continue to spread. “I saw the little mountain on fire and that was it,” said Montevis Price, who was visiting Los Angeles from Miami and had to evacuate. “You can prepare for a hurricane, but you can’t prepare for something that happens all of a sudden.”
Five Friends Fight California Wildfires with Garden Hoses
This week, thousands of southern California residents have been evacuated from their homes due to wildfires. As strong winds push these wildfires through Ventura County, burning 50,000 acres, more than 1,000 firefighters have taken their stand against the blaze. But the firefighters aren’t the only ones fighting.
According to CNN, “for a few hours late Monday night, [the firefighters] had help from a band of friends armed only with garden hoses.” One of these five friends was Brylle San Juan, a young man living in Camarillo. He could see the blaze from his home and decided to drive the 14 miles north to Ventura with his friends to see how they could help.
San Juan grew up in Ventura, the article says, and “didn’t want to sit idly as it burned.”
Upon arriving in an already burning neighborhood, San Juan and his friends grabbed garden hoses and buckets and started dousing houses. Neighbors soon joined them. Meanwhile, firefighters fought hard to save burning structures. After three hours of hard work, the five friends had helped to save a few of the houses in the neighborhood. At the expense of their own safety, they had helped victims protect their homes.
In his interview with CNN, San Juan acknowledged, “It was kind of stupid of us to do so, but everyone wanted to help.”
As a student of Ventura College, San Juan currently has a bit of a holiday from classes. They’ve all been cancelled due to the wildfires. But, as the article says, he plans to use his time off helping protect nearby neighborhoods from the fire. “He’s prepared to jump back into the fray—garden hose in hand—to help if needed.”
Man’s Act of Self-Sacrifice in California Fires Illustrates Something More than Heroism
Last week, ABC News reported on one man’s incredible act of self-sacrifice for his family in the face of approaching wildfires. Although his act certainly demonstrates a rare heroism—a quality that seems to be disappearing in the passivity of today’s culture—it also demonstrates what the Bible calls the greatest kind of love.
According to the ABC News article, a California family—a mother, father, son, and two grandparents—evacuated their home shortly before it went up in flames along with their entire ranch and all of their possessions. As they drove away from their burning house, emergency response personnel saw the Tamayo family from a helicopter and landed to take them to safety. Unfortunately, however, the helicopter could only fit four people. One member of the Tamayo family would have to stay behind.
The father, Pepe, told the helicopter crew to take his family, choosing to remain on the ground. The reporter writes, “Pepe tried hard not [to] show his fear, but the flames were close.” The heroic father even called his daughter, who was not with the rest of the family, and told her, “[I]f I don’t see you again, remember I love you.”
The crew members, promising to return for Pepe after taking his family to safety, were struck by this father’s “courage and selflessness.” Although they all feared that they wouldn’t be back in time to save Pepe, the crew members found him later that night and flew him to safety, reuniting him with his family. One of the crew members said of this victory, “When I saw him again, I was so happy and thanking God for saving his life.”
Pepe’s act of self-sacrifice for his family echoes Jesus’ words in John 15:13. Here, after urging his disciples to love one another, he says, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” As John 15:12says, this is the very way in which Christ has loved us. Pepe’s act of selfless love for his family reminds us of our Savior, who himself faced death so that we could live.
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