A little late, and there will be an update to the update soon, but I figured since no one ever reads this blog anyway it doesn't matter much.
------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Dear family and friends,
------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Dear family and friends,
I know several of you are aware of this already, but I just wanted to ask for fervent prayers as soon as possible. Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA (my alma mater and that of several PTS students) is surrounded by a 1,000+ acre wildfire tonight. It began around 6:00pm Pacific time and has already burned several homes. Westmont's campus has several spot fires on it and the prayer chapel has possibly burned as well as some other buildings.
They are keeping students safe in the gym which is fireproof and lots of Westmont community members are letting students stay in their homes who were already off campus and cannot get back. There are several Princeton students with ties to Westmont (alumni and parents). Please pray. I'm exhausted (I haven't been getting much sleep this week) but I'm too distracted and sad and worried and praying to sleep. I know if I laid down I'd fall asleep, but I'm worried now about Santa Barbara because it seems that the city is in grave danger.
From Westmont:
"Conditions on campus improved to the point where staff were able to get food from the Dining Commons and bring it to the gym, where the
community is sheltered in place.
Conditions in the area may make it possible now to leave the campus for a Red Cross shelter, but that option is still being explored. Firefighters are currently attempting to put out several fires at Clark Hall. Structures lost to or significantly damaged by fire include the Physics Building, the 'old Math" building, Bauder Hall and the Quonset Huts.
Again, we are grateful that no one has been hurt on campus, and everyone is safely in the gymnasium and in good spirits. Thank you for your prayers.
Chris Call,
Vice President for Administration"
The hidden blessing is that several of the buildings that have been destroyed/damaged were already marked for demolition as part of the growth of Westmont's Master Plan. However, very recently, part of one of the dorms has been damaged, parts of it destroyed, as well as the Resident Director's house. They've also lost lots of homes in the Montecito and Santa Barbara community....dozens probably and the fire is completely out of control..a true "wild" fire. Scary. I do know the tree canopy at Westmont is probably pretty bad. This link has pictures...all from Westmont. Better news than any other source in Santa Barbara probably comes from The Independent in case you're interested.
Thanks for your prayers, so so much.
Love,
Megan
From Westmont:
"Conditions on campus improved to the point where staff were able to get food from the Dining Commons and bring it to the gym, where the
community is sheltered in place.
Conditions in the area may make it possible now to leave the campus for a Red Cross shelter, but that option is still being explored. Firefighters are currently attempting to put out several fires at Clark Hall. Structures lost to or significantly damaged by fire include the Physics Building, the 'old Math" building, Bauder Hall and the Quonset Huts.
Again, we are grateful that no one has been hurt on campus, and everyone is safely in the gymnasium and in good spirits. Thank you for your prayers.
Chris Call,
Vice President for Administration"
The hidden blessing is that several of the buildings that have been destroyed/damaged were already marked for demolition as part of the growth of Westmont's Master Plan. However, very recently, part of one of the dorms has been damaged, parts of it destroyed, as well as the Resident Director's house. They've also lost lots of homes in the Montecito and Santa Barbara community....dozens probably and the fire is completely out of control..a true "wild" fire. Scary. I do know the tree canopy at Westmont is probably pretty bad. This link has pictures...all from Westmont. Better news than any other source in Santa Barbara probably comes from The Independent in case you're interested.
Thanks for your prayers, so so much.
Love,
Megan
No comments:
Post a Comment