Chaplains Reach Out to Fire Victims

A mother of three told Pastor Sandy Reynolds how she was taking a nap last week when she heard someone pounding on the door of her home in Fort McMurray, Alta.

When she had lain down, the sky outside was clear. Now it was black, and fire was starting to rage through the oil town of some 88,000 residents in Northern Alberta.

“She quickly gathered her two children and went to pick her son up at school,” said Reynolds, a Christian Reformed Church hospital chaplain in Calgary, Alta., who has been working with evacuees of the devastating fire.

“A seven-minute drive took her two hours. By that time, there was no time to pack, and the highways south were closed due to the fire so they went north to an oil camp where her husband worked.”

The mother is just one of thousands of people who fled the fire that is reportedly coming under control after burning more than 200,000 hectares (about 495,000 acres). She and her children were eventually flown out of the oil camp to an evacuation center in Calgary, where Reynolds met her.

“The fire spread so quickly that people barely had a chance to pack anything and only had the clothes they were wearing,” said Reynolds, who has been working long hours, splitting her time between the evacuation center and three hospitals.

“Evacuating so many people so quickly was not an easy task, and the highways quickly filled with cars, making it difficult for people to get out.”

Thankfully, said Reynolds, injuries were at a minimum, but thousands of people were traumatized as they fled the fire and have spent the past week attempting to reunite with loved ones and finding places to stay in cities such as Edmonton and Calgary.

In the midst of this, CRC chaplains, pastors, and church members have joined with hundreds of others to help fire victims in whatever ways they can, said Capt. Ger Van Smeerdyk, a CRC chaplain serving with the Canadian Armed Forces in Edmonton.

“The response has been impressive,” said Van Smeerdyk. “Our churches, civic authorities, the police, fire and rescue, and the military lost no time in responding to the need.”

Van Smeerdyk is stationed at a camp that had previously been home to hundreds of Syrian refugees—a crisis situation that, he said, “may have given us a head-start in preparing for those fire refugees from Fort McMurray.”

Evergreen Community CRC in Fort McMurray had to be evacuated last week, and many church members gathered for worship and a meal last Sunday after making their way to Trinity CRC in Edmonton.

Pastor Rich deLange led the prayer service and shared encouragement from Psalm 46: "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble."

Other CRC congregations in Edmonton are helping as well by holding prayer meetings and taking up offerings to support World Renew as it gears up to help in Fort McMurray.

“This is a huge trauma for those who permanently made Fort McMurray their home,” said Rev. Case Vink, a retired CRC clinical care supervisor of chaplains who once served the Evergreen church in Fort McMurray.

“Up to now our hearts have focused on the survival of people and emergency response folks. Secondarily, we have focused on the hope that the fire danger would pass and that important infrastructure would be spared.”

But, he said, it is now clear that “the massive reconstruction of of buildings and lives that will occur later is staggering to think about in an isolated community like Fort McMurray.”

Although about 85 percent of structures are still standing, more than 1,500 structures were destroyed, and whole neighborhoods were wiped out in the fire. Damage to the water system, roads, and power grid are extensive. Firefighters were able to save the city’s airport, however.

As she thinks of her time working with evacuees, Reynolds recalls the conversation she had with a mother who told her she was having a hard time sorting through all that had happened.

The mother and others who fled the fire ended up in different places. Some left without their phones and lists of contacts. Many were concerned about pets they had to leave behind.

“I have not even allowed the emotions to hit me too much because I have to stay strong in front of my children,” the mother said, fighting back tears.

“Our house is gone, but we are so grateful we are alive and for warmth and generosity and welcome from everyone in Calgary.”

Van Smeerdyk, the Canadian Armed Forces chaplain, said he would appreciate prayer support in the wake of the fire, which reports say has now merged from two into one blaze and, as it burns to the east, has become easier to fight because of cooler weather.

“I’d like to see prayer for the men and women who are fighting the fire, and those who support them,” said the military chaplain.

“I’d also like prayer for the civic authorities who have to orchestrate the efforts, and for the churches and organizations who are providing all kinds of assistance to the people who have fled the fire—many of whom have nothing left and will not be able to return to rebuild their homes for several weeks.”

Click here to read about a Canadian Broadcasting Network interview with Rev. John Van Slooten, pastor of Hillside/New Hope CRC in Calgary, titled “Faith in the Face of the Fort McMurray Fire.”