Line Fire Update 9/15/24

Dear Camp Supporters: 

Sitting at my desk in Redlands yesterday, I had the windows and doors open and no AC.  Amazing the difference in the weather.  It was only a few days ago I had a heat and smoke stroke!  The ash was raining down over the town like snow, and when the sprinklers hit my car, it became encased in a concrete-like slurry.  I tracked down the camp mail at the local post office in Mentone on Friday.  I met a reporter in the post office who had just come from a fire update meeting.  She shared encouraging words saying, “Well, this cooler weather is giving the fire fighters a fighting chance!”   Oh, my goodness…music to my ears.

AO is still intact with the fire creeping along the ridge above the town.  Now, let’s hope this weather holds for a few more days.  After all, the fire is like a sleeping giant, breathe a little life into it on a gusty day, and the giant will roar and rage again.  But for now, there is reason to hope the camp will make it through the threat of the Line Fire.

Camp has had to cancel several retreats so far, and undoubtedly, we will need to cancel more.  Assuming the fire threat to camp is minimized to the point that staff members are allowed to return, we will have a heck of a job ahead of us to clean camp of the ash and smoke oils.  This process is not well-covered under our fire insurance, and so we will need to take on the expense of cleanup ourselves.

A team of volunteers to sweep off decks, spray down cabins, wash windows, move the ozone machines from building to building, clean the swimming pool/hot tub and outdoor furniture of ash will be needed.  If you have time to come up to camp, I am now assembling a list of names to call upon.  Click here to register your name as a willing volunteer.

Beyond the task of cleaning up camp before it can be occupied, is the USFS.  They have officially closed the forest to recreational use.  We will be in discussions with them, when the time is right, to see when we will be able to officially reopen with campers. They have the ultimate authority over land use.

With the cancellation of camps comes the obvious–the lack of camp revenue, the refunding of camp fees and the lack of monthly cash flow.  This is a real and immediate problem.  Won’t you please join me to support the monthly giving program?  I can’t think of a better way to support the camp.  I donate $100 per month and am increasing my pledge to $125 per month during the Line Fire crisis. The money donated monthly and regularly by loyal supporters is what sustained us during the El Dorado fire and the Covid closure.

If you have been thinking about joining the monthly giving program and never have, or if you have thought to yourself, “why would I join a monthly giving program?”, please know that the monthly giving program has become the lifeblood of camp during recent camp closures.  It has also served to shore up operations during the winter months when income is very low—so low we do not come close to covering operational expenses.

Our goal this season is to have enough people join monthly giving that we raise $12,500 per month.  With monthly expenses around $50,000 per month or more, this is an important way to support camp.  And any amount is important to the growth of the giving program.

• $10 per month = $120 per year
• $25 per month = $300 per year
• $50 per month = $600 per year
• $100 per month = $1200 per year.  

When I first joined and committed $100 per month, I wondered how long I could keep it up or how it would impact my own finances.  But I find that the money flows out of my account unnoticed by me, and that is a good thing.  I was surprised that I could donate $100 per month ($1200 per year) without a financial crisis of my own!  And I am pleased to be giving back in this way.

Please, please join me in contributing on any level to the monthly giving program.  Be a part of lending monthly support.  I can guarantee that a robust monthly giving program, bringing in $150,000 a year or more, is what is going to support the camp through any crisis—fire, hurricane, mud flows, road closures, in years to come.  Click here to become a monthly donor.

Joe Warner at the Boy Scout Camp prepared the following update yesterday.

Great day of weather and progress on the ground yesterday, another day of the same planned for today. The fire only grew a few hundred acres yesterday, but that growth was on the Big Bear Ridge northwest of Camp. The fire is 38,074 acres today with 25% containment.

Significant progress was made in primary and secondary line construction. The primary line is on the fire’s eastern edge and is about 2/3 complete, with most additional work remaining on the upper Big Bear Ridge. A new secondary (backup) line under construction includes the west flank of the 2023 Radford Fire burn area, tying down into the bottom of the Santa Ana River. Also, the line is close to being completed south across the Santa Ana Canyon to the Angelus Oaks side, with the last bit about 1/4 mile long in very steep terrain that will have to be done by hand. This south end should be completed late today, which will tie-in the north facing slope of the Santa Ana drainage.

 We’re getting there…. hoping for another good day, same as yesterday.

Yesterday air support rumbled over Redlands all day, and I was thankful to hear the planes every hour fly overhead.  I am so thankful for the fire fighters who are putting their lives on the line to save forestland, cabins, homes and camps.

Won’t you please put something on the line and join the monthly giving program?  It would be an amazing feat if we could come together to reach this season’s goal of $12,500 per month ($150,000 annually) of additional operational support.

Janet James

Executive Director

director@uucamp.org