Franklin Graham Meets Homeowners in Wildfire-Ravaged California

January 27, 2025 • United States

Samaritan's Purse President Franklin Graham encouraged residents affected by the Eaton and Palisades Fires as our volunteers serve the two areas in Jesus' Name.

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Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham met with California residents on Monday, Jan. 27, in the wake of wildfires that have claimed dozens of lives and destroyed thousands of structures in LA County.

Franklin Graham meets with a homeowner.

Franklin Graham meets with a homeowner.

He offered words of encouragement to homeowners in Eaton Canyon communities where our teams are hard at work assisting residents to recover valuables and keepsakes not claimed in the blaze. He heard harrowing stories as residents recounted their experience with the deadly fires, which began on Jan. 7 and scorched tens of thousands of populated acres, driven by strong Santa Ana winds.

Graham met with a homeowner named Evelyn who said she evacuated at 2 a.m. and tried to find many of the valuable items that belonged to her mother. One keepsake in particular is still missing—a special figurine that her mother brought to the states when immigrating from Cuba in 1960s. She hopes our team can find it.

“We have our lives. We did get a few important things out,” Evelyn told Graham. “I was in denial that morning. The fire moved very, very quickly. It moved in this area and out the next day. We never would’ve imagined that this would happen. Thank you all for coming and for helping us.”

Graham also heard from homeowner Kitty McCormick, who expressed gratitude for help in finding cherished jewelry and wedding keepsakes.

Franklin Graham takes time to pray with a homeowner.

Franklin Graham takes time to pray with a homeowner.

“It’s incredible what you’re doing here for us,” she said. “This is a strong community. This is our forever home. I’ve been here almost 10 years. We always thought we were coming back like a lot of people did.”

McCormick’s husband, Jeff, added: “We left here at 11 at night and the house was gone before breakfast. We never experienced winds like this before.”

The McCormick family was grieving the loss of their home and also of those very precious belongings they weren’t able to gather before evacuating.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Graham told her. “This is a really rough thing to go through. It’s an honor to meet you. ‘Heavenly Father, sometimes we don’t know how to pray but we look at this home and ask for hope and comfort for this family. Father, we pray that You put Your loving arms around them and help our volunteers find what she’s looking for.'”

Meeting Local Church Leaders

Graham also had the opportunity to meet with church leadership at our base of operations for our Eaton Fire response, Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena.

“This is where Samaritan’s Purse was born. In this area. It started with Bob Pierce. We’re glad to be back home,” Graham told church staff. “Were glad God has given us the resources and put us in the position to help.”

Franklin Graham meets with members of the Billy Graham chaplain team.

Franklin Graham meets with members of the Billy Graham chaplain team.

At the church gathering, Graham met Brian Price and John Klewer, co-leaders with the Fire Fighters for Christ emergency relief team. Brian served with Samaritan’s Purse during our Helene response in western North Carolina. John has served with Samaritan’s Purse on international disaster responses.

“Our partnership with Samaritan’s Purse has been a match made in Heaven,” Brian said. “It’s something we’ve been looking for, for years, and it has accelerated our skills and expanded our reach to serve.”

Nearly 100 volunteers have joined our efforts so far, assisting homeowners on burned-out properties to search for items such as family heirlooms or any artifacts from life before the fire. Teams have the unique opportunity to share the love of Jesus Christ with these hurting families and to act as a listening ear and voice of encouragement.

VOLUNTEER IN CALIFORNIA

The Growing Need and Work

Volunteers are working out of our bases of operation at two Southern California host churches. Our Eaton response is being run out of Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena. In the Palisades area, we are operating out of Cornerstone Church of West Los Angeles.

Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains are serving alongside Samaritan’s Purse at both locations.

We are only receiving day volunteers in the early days of this response. As requests for assistance continue to roll in, we will need many more volunteers in the days and weeks to come.

Our work also continues in other areas of the country, including in Helene-devastated areas of the southern Appalachians where Graham visited last week with President Donald Trump.

SUPPORT
A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire as it burns a structure in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
California Wildfire Response Deadly wildfires are raging around Los Angeles, California, destroying homes and property. Samaritan's Purse has deployed two Disaster Relief Units, establishing two bases at local churches. We will send out volunteers to help homeowners in Jesus' Name once local emergency management says it is safe to do so.

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