wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Synod conference center up in flames in California

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Note #7995 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Synod conference center up in flames in California
03466
October 29, 2003

Synod conference center up in flames in California

Wylie Woods destroyed, Big Bear may survive

By Jerry L. Van Marter

Editor's note: the Presbyterian News Service will continue to update this
story as it unfolds.

LOUISVILLE - Wylie Woods Conference Center, one of two Synod of Southern
California and Hawaii conference facilities, has been completely destroyed by
the wildfires raging in southern California.

	Big Bear, the synod's other conference center in the San Bernardino
Mountains, served as an evacuation site for those near Wylie Woods fleeing
the fire. But late on Tuesday, Big Bear was ordered evacuated.

	The Rev. Don Smith, the synod's director of regional and special
ministries, told the Presbyterian News Service that the latest reports
indicate Big Bear has a good chance of escaping the inferno.

	Work was just being completed on the first new construction at Wylie
Woods in 50 years. The facility has been insured by Lloyds of London since
June, Smith said.

	The wide swath of destruction has had the greatest impact in the
presbyteries of San Diego, Riverside, San Fernando, San Gabriel and Santa
Barbara. The fire is burning along the mountain range from San Diego - 100
miles south of Los Angeles - to Santa Clarita, 20 miles north of the city.

	So far, the fire has consumed more than a half-million acres,
destroyed at least 1,300 homes, forced countless thousands to flee and has
killed at least 15 persons.

	Jan Opdyke, acting director of the PC(USA)'s $40 million dollar
Mission Initiative campaign, said she could see the fire burning across the
area near her home in Redlands from her front porch. "The ash is awful," she
told the Presbyterian News Service.

	Because many residents in the fire-stricken area have been evacuated,
losses of homes are impossible to accurately calculate. But at least 26 homes
belonging to members of Rancho Bernardo Presbyterian Church in San Diego have
been destroyed, said the Rev. Robert Mentzes, pastor of Community
Presbyterian Church in Lakeside.

	So far, no churches have been lost in Riverside Presbtery, said Mario
Janesin of the presbytery's staff. "We can't confirm any other damage,"
Janesin, who had to flee his own home in Crestline Saturday night, told the
Presbyterian News Service. "We can't get up there and information isn't
coming out of the mountains very well."

	The Presbyterian church in Crestline is certainly in danger. "It's an
old wooden church," Janesin said. "One spark and its gone."

	And destroyed buildings are not the end of the tragedy. Mentzes said
the sky around San Diego was completely dark by mid-afternoon Tuesday,
creating hazardous conditions that led to the death of a teenage driver who
was a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Escondido. Two other young
people from the church were injured in the traffic accident, one gravely.

	Mentzes said a close watch was being kept on the Pine Hills Retreat
Center in San Diego Presbytery. More than 100 homes in the vicinity of the
retreat center have already been consumed by the blaze.

	Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) official Stan Hankins is "in
constant contact" with leaders of the affected presbyteries, said PDA staffer
Pamela Burdine. "Insurance and government assistance will pay for a lot of
the damage, so Stan is talking with the presbyteries about how we can best
help," she said.

	A special account has already been established for those who wish to
contribute to clean up and relief efforts in southern California. To
contribute to the effort ("California Fires" account #PDA 9-2000165), use
local church channels, call PresbyTel at 800-872-3283; or log onto the PDA
website at www.pcusa.org/pda/donate/accounts.htm. Checks can also be sent
directly to Central Receiving Service, Box 300, Louisville, KY 40289.

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