A former church builder and volunteer chaplain for the Sable Altura Fire Rescue of Aurora, Colorado reveals the "apocalyptic" battle he and the rest of the firefighters experienced that fateful day on December 30 when the Marshall Fires wiped out 6,000 acres worth of property into ashes.
Scott Ross, in an interview with the Christian Headlines, recounted what happened on the day the firefighters received the call to battle what they thought were "a small grassfire." Ross, who was only six months in the fire department that day and had only began on his firefighter training, decided to join the team that day only to realize it will be the worst fire ever to occur in Colorado. The team did allow him to come with them though there "was a little bit of apprehension."
"They kept talking about it being apocalyptic," Ross recalled the firefighters' sentiments on the Marshall Fire.
Christianity Daily reported that Boulder County was beset in flames that almost reached Marshall County due to strong winds of 100mph that have sparked down power lines. The flames have forced more than 30,000 people to evacuate their homes while six people were hospitalized due to the disaster. It took days to battle the wildfire and investigations on its cause followed thereafter.
When they arrived on the scene, Ross said he obeyed orders when their leader told everyone to go out of the vehicle. He then wore his gear and helped the team in their battle that lasted 12 hours, during which he was praying.
"The leader just said 'everybody out.'...It was clear that we were going to need everybody. We had five of us in our vehicle. And then there was another department we were partnering with. And so we were all out there doing everything we could," Ross said.
"I knew to trust my gear. And I knew to trust my leaders. And so I just did whatever they asked me to do...I wasn't apprehensive. I was praying the whole time," he disclosed.
Yet the time they spent, Ross said, was not enough for the fires continued to engulf the structures that were mostly homes. They were told, Ross said in an interview with Church Leaders, to cease what they were doing due to the strong winds that made it dangerous for their own lives. Ross revealed the sense of hopelessness he felt during that moment along with a sense of admiration for his "crazy-courageous" companions who he assisted in fighting the fire.
"You see a house standing and within minutes, a burning ember flies over, lands in their yard, and their entire house is engulfed in flames. It's somewhat of a helpless feeling. And as I was watching, I was thinking, 'These are people's entire lives just being consumed.' But I couldn't really feel all of those feelings because we were so busy doing what we were doing. And I was thinking about these firefighters and thinking these guys are crazy-courageous. They'll walk right up to the fire and just address it," Ross shared.
Being the American Bible Society Church Partnerships for Trauma Healing Director, whose main duty is to provide prayer and support to the fire crew, Ross has provided debriefing sessions with the fire crew and the victims of the Marshall Fire. He pointed to Scripture as a good foundation to "build something new" in the face of such loss and destruction and the confusion brought by the uncertainties it brings. He invited firefighters and those who have experienced similar trauma to free resources for healing through the American Bible Society website.
"Scripture is grounding for people. And it connects them to God. My prayer, honestly, for these people who've lost so much is that not that they would rebuild to something that was--but they would now build something new, and clearly, that Scripture would be a foundational part of that. And I believe it will be for a lot of these people and their relationship with God. When you lose everything, it really causes you to ask new kinds of questions," Ross explained.
