By Baptist Message staff
SINGER, La. (LBM) – As wildfires continue to rage in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief teams and churches remain in the area to show Christ’s love to those impacted.
According to Gary Hahler, pastor of Shady Grove Baptist Church, Pitkin, and DR coordinator for Beauregard Baptist Association, a Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief feeding team had cooked 450 meals since Wednesday for first responders battling the fires.
“Yesterday during supper preparations, the quick response feeding unit (from Philadelphia Baptist Church, Deville) had to evacuate where they were preparing meals at First Baptist Church in Singer because the fire took an unexpected turn,” LBDR Strategist Stan Statham told the Baptist Message. “The quickly moved to the Beauregard Baptist Association office in DeRidder, reopened and fed first responders. Once again, they showed the determination of our volunteers.”
Philadelphia Baptist Church is providing a feeding trailer while other churches have stepped up as well to provide feeding team members: Trinity Baptist Church, Oakdale, Glenmora Baptist Church, Shady Grove Baptist Church, Pitkin, Singer Baptist Church, Cherry Grove Baptist Church, Dry Creek, New Life Baptist Church, DeRidder, Westview Baptist Church, DeRidder, First Baptist Church, DeRidder, Lonestar Memorial Baptist Church, Hopewell, First Baptist Church, Bunkie, First Baptist Church, Merryville, and Pleasant Hill Baptist Church.
More than 13,000 acres have burned since the fire broke out Aug. 22 near Highway 110 between Merryville and Singer. The Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office reported that overnight the fire had crossed over Highway 27 but first responders have managed to keep structures from being damaged.
Eight-five percent of the fire was contained and 150 Water District 2 customers were without water Thursday morning. KPLC-TV in Lake Charles reported that Army National Guard Black Hawk helicopters holding anywhere from three to five hundred gallons of water were helping with firefighting efforts, and planes from Texas and Oklahoma were flying in to drop fire-retardant.
