Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Calif. wildfire survivors give thanks at church

Despite loss, many find reasons for gratitude.

SAN DIEGO - Survivors of firestorms that destroyed more than 2,000 homes in Southern California found reasons Sunday to be thankful even as the damage toll mounted and firefighters worked to contain blazes.

Fire officials kept an eye on warm, dry weather that moved in behind a moist, tropical system that allowed fire crews to make gains Saturday. Winds up to 15 mph were expected but weren't considered a problem.

Last week, the onset of the seasonal Santa Anas - fierce winds blowing from the desert and out to sea - spread fires across 500,000 acres of Southern California, killing seven people and destroying 2,013 homes, according to the state Office of Emergency Services.

Many who lost much gave thanks at church services in some of the hardest-hit areas.

At the Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church, where 60 families lost their homes, they gave thanks for lives saved, for families, for friendships.

Nancy Hylbert gave thanks for a wrought-iron ice cream table and chairs that survived outside, and a terra cotta statue of a cat from her garden. "They are the only links with my past," she said.

Barbara Warden fled her home with three boxes of photographs and her grandfather's cuckoo clock. She said she, too, was thankful. Nobody in her community or family was hurt.

[Last modified October 29, 2007, 00:56:29]