Butte fire evacuees find shelter, supplies at Valley Springs center

Good Samaritan Church is living up to its name, providing shelter and a distribution point for donated goods as the massive Butte fire rages 10 to 15 miles away.

Valley Springs is hosting two of the six Red Cross evacuation centers in place on the fourth day of a wildfire that as of Sunday had burned more than 65,200 acres, destroying 81 homes and 51 outbuildings in its path, according to a Cal Fire update.

Among those hoping her home had been spared was evacuee Jeanette Chacon of the San Andreas area. In her 30 years living in the region, this was her first evacuation – “Thank you, Lord, for that,” she said. She was among about 15 evacuees at the center Sunday, said a church spokesman.

Valley Springs residents, with trunks and pickup beds filled, came to the church Sunday to pitch in. “Imagine if we were in that situation – what can we do to help?” asked Ana Orozco.

Volunteer signups were filled through Tuesday, church organizer Laurel Joliff told a steady stream of people, taking names and numbers to call later.

“The community’s just pulled together. It’s incredible to watch,” said Mark Duffey as he left after church services. “I was here for the Old Gulch fire (in 1992). The community pulled together then and they’ve done it again.”

Wafting across the church parking lot was the smell of grilling cheeseburgers and hot dogs, an “easy peasie” lunch barbecue donated by Outback Mike’s VooDoo BBQ. The real meal was coming that night: barbecued ribs the cooking team had bought for the Blazin’ Hog BBQ Competition next Saturday in Mariposa.

“I figured, we’d bought all the meat. We needed to serve our community,” said team cook Mike O’Shaughnessy between patty flips.

This was the first time the church’s large Life Center has been called upon by the Red Cross to house evacuees, said lead pastor Jeff Mitchell. “We’re playing it by ear,” he said. But Good Samaritan already had many services in place, with its clothes giveaway every fourth Saturday and weekly food pantry.

“This community rocks!” said church Clothed in Love organizer Rose Owens, gesturing at piles of neatly folded new towels and linens donated that day. A room was set aside earlier to hold all the diapers, toothbrushes, toiletries and other necessities being donated.

Folding jeans on the other side of the table, teen Hannah Olson said helping people makes her feel God is working through her. With Calaveras High School closed until further notice, Olson said, she will have more time to serve.

As of Sunday afternoon, the fire remained only 20 percent contained and wildfire smoke darkened the skies over much of Northern California. The weekend’s cooler temperatures and a smattering of sprinkles on Sunday did little to combat the flames, but a change in wind direction helped clear the air in Valley Springs.

At times, the smoke has been thick as fog, residents said. While the intense, campfire smell and flecks of ash were enough to sting the eyes Sunday, it was nothing like Thursday, said Barbara Vega, operations manager for Sender’s Market Ace in Valley Springs.

“This is actually a good day,” she said.

The combination hardware and food store was expecting an emergency shipment of power generators, gas cans and other essentials Monday. Jugged water is selling fast and the store is also giving much away to organizations helping with the fire, she said.

While such earthly needs were being tended, Mitchell said he focused his sermon Sunday on recovery.

“How do you recover from a situation that ... you thought you’d never face and ... you think you’ll never get over,” he said.

Mitchell said he spends time with evacuees just listening.

“I let people tell their stories. There’s so many uncertainties – my horses, my dogs, do I have a house?” he said. “ Mostly, I just ask, ‘How’s it going?’”

This story was originally published September 13, 2015 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Butte fire evacuees find shelter, supplies at Valley Springs center."