Fire!

 The link to this week's live-streamed worship service is here.

Continuing our August adventures in worship, this week and next we welcomed Pastor George Hodgson to the pulpit. Pastor George is a familiar figure in our congregation but if you want to refresh your memory, you can find a short biography of him here.

Fire!

Remember the Kelowna fire of 2003? It burned 250 square kilometres and forced the evacuation of the 33,000 citizens. At the time it was unimaginable. Twenty years later, Kelowna is one fire again.

Then there was the Fort McMurray fire in 2016. It burned 5895 square kilometres and forced 80,000 people from their homes.Our screens were filled with images of fire and ash and desperate people driving through the flames.  Again, unimaginable. The country sent aid in trucks, in suitcases, and in bank drafts, and in prayer.

Now, it is 2023 and the unimaginable is happening again. 

Two thirds of the North West Territories is under evacuation order. By Friday noon, the entire city of Yellowknife, the territorial capital, had been evacuated. The 22,000 citizens of that city joined the thousands of others from villages and hamlets in the Territory seeking shelter in far away Alberta or Manitoba. Hospitals in BC took in patients and long-term care residents. The closest evacuee reception centre for people travelling by road is over 1,100 kilometres from Yellowknife. While the number of people affected is not as great as in previous fires, the range of the fires is horrifying. As one spokesman put it "the Arctic is on fire. People need to pay attention." 

Fire map of Canada 2023

The area burning is 21262.54 square kilometres, nearly 100 times the size of the "unimaginable" Kelowna fire in 2003.

Interviews with those who have fled their homes not knowing where they are going and when or if they will be allowed to return are heartbreaking. The hardest to hear are of families who have left one or two people behind as essential workers. They know the choice was necessary, but the fear for their loved ones is palpable.

Here in pretty Sidney, we look out at ocean dotted with sailboats. Mountains shimmer in the distance. Even with a smoke haze in our skies we feel so far away from danger. That is perilous thinking. All of BC is under a state of emergency. The fire risk on Southern Vancouver Island is rated extreme. We all need to be extra cautious. Butchart Gardens cancelled their fireworks on Saturday night.

Our fellow citizens need support in many ways. Here is a list of recognized organization accepting donations As of Friday the Salvation Army had organized food trucks and volunteers to head into Yellowknife to provide food and a sympathetic shoulder for the 1000+ essential workers and firefighters remaining in that city. Help is pouring in to support those who have been evacuated. If you want to make a donation directly to the NWT on line, the link is here.  https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/82499?v2=true 

The stories and images of those in evacuation stations are heart-breaking and inspiring. Despite the fear and uncertainty, evacuees are helping each other, pledging to rebuild, and being grateful for the  front line workers fighting the fires and the friends and strangers offering places to stay. Please keep them in your prayers.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.     1 John 4: 7 (NKJV)

By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13: 35 (NKJV)