Saturday…WOW!
Today we arrived at the Incident Command Center in Vista, CA. where we were instructed to report to a staging ground for a particularly difficult fire in Valley Center, CA. We were excited to actually be deployed to a fire zone as we have discovered that without some kind of a connection volunteer efforts are not able to get into the Hot Zone arenas. We rejoiced at the fact that we were going to get to feed the Emergency Responders. We really had no idea what the Lord had in mind…
We arrived and set up our equipment at the field command center which is at the Fire Station and Sheriff Station in Valley Center. Valley Center is now home to a number of different camps of Emer.Resps. By the time we had the first pots of soup ready at 4:00pm we realized that we were not going to serve only one agency. By 8:00pm we had served over 200 meals to Sheriff, Local Fire Dept., State Patrol, CA. Dept. of Forestry, Army, National Guard, Marines, as well as civilians. All this in a four hour window. Sunday we will be there all day and anticipate over 1000 meals as this massive response continues to try and save this region from ravaging flames.
The danger these responders are facing is very real and very close. As we are serving meals citizenry are driving up to the Fire Station and asking for help as the fire moves toward their home and property. Some people are coming into town trying to get back to there homes in zones that are closed and do not know if they even have anything left. We are in the thick of it folks. Right where God wants us to be.
After serving this evening Ginger had a chance to speak with our hosts in the Fire and Sheriff Stations. They are very, very pleased with the job we are doing. We have been told to expect to work through Tuesday or Wednesday if conditions do not change for the worst, which is entirely possible. All it takes is a gust of wind in the wrong direction to ignite a whole new inferno. I have a feeling this will not be the last frontline deployment for Soup Ladies and Real Missions!
Enjoy these photos….
Kevin Martindale
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