Fire near Rancho Casitas!

Wednesday I received an urgent phone call from Rick Carter with Hand's of Mercy (a similar organization working south of Ensenada) informing me of a large fire fire burning close to their property "Rancho Casitas". The families who live at the ranch are very dear friends of ours, so I assured Rick we would connect with them and help in anyway possible.

I called the McCoy's satelite phone, and was able to connect with Sue McCoy. She informed me that since they had all been focused on preparing for the fire, the three missionary families (McCoy's, Van Ness' & Johnson's) living on the ranch were out of some basic food supplies (milk, bread, meat, fruit etc). *the ranch is more than an hour drive south of Ensenada

I quickly packed an overnite pack, kissed Ana & Naomi, and headed off to Costco in a truck. EOC team member Brenda Barnes (a champion shopper) followed me there & helped load up the truck with 5 coolers of ice & enough food to feed an army.

As I made the trip to Rancho Casitas, I remembered the fire of October 2007, which also was in the vicinity of the ranch, but never threatened it. (see my picasa photo album)

As I arrived at the ranch, I noticed that a crew of firefighters were camped there, along with the Mexican Army! There was also a Helicopter from the Mexican Forestry department.

I quickly learned that the fire was within a mile of the Eastern portion of the ranch, but was threatening the entire southern portion of the ranch from east to West. (I later learned that the fire was estimated to have burned 65,000 acres) The McCoy's, Van Ness' & Johnson's were all so appreciative of the abundance of food, and thankful for the provision of a way to thank the team of nearly 80 people who were working to prevent the fire from threatening their homes.

As we watched the sunset, and felt a change in the barometric pressure, it was obvious that cool damp weather was moving in from the coast. And as the firefighters & soldiers returned to the camp well after dark, all were grateful to hear the news that the fire was contained and mostly out!

What a blessing it was to be with my friends and help them feed these brave heros!

As we woke this morning (Danny & Rick started breakfast for the crew at 5am), aside from the smell of smoke, and some smoldering, you couldn't see any real signs of a fire!

Although they are "out of the woods" we will help them this weekend by hosting a team that is scheduled to stay at Rancho Casitas. (the firefighters are still using the ranch as a base camp)

We don't see ourselves as us & them, we are all One Body.

Here are a few photos form yesterday at the ranch: