After fires raged in California early this year, damaging property and impacting the lives of many Californians, members of the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief in Pasadena, including two area residents, helped recover some of what had been lost in the blaze.

From Feb. 23 to March 8, Maynard Brown, of Powell, and Steve Burtoft, of Lovell, were there to assist. Both are members of Victory Baptist in Powell.

“When we’re there, we’re there to help them in that we’re there to try to minister to them … mentally, spiritually and physically,”
Burtoft said.

The work is also taxing on the volunteers who are limited to 12 days by the Southern Baptist Convention, Burtoft said.

The group was assisting with what’s called personal property recovery, meaning they would go to homes and ask property owners if they could assist in looking for personal items in the damaged properties.

“The first week was really hot down there, and we would work about an hour, and then we’d take a 15 minute break and take the suits off to the waist so our upper body could cool down,” Brown said. 

They split into four groups of four to five who worked every day but Sunday, Burtoft recalled.

Burtoft and Brown worked with people from the combined Wyoming and Colorado disaster relief and other states including Missouri, Arizona and New Mexico.

Their group went through 35 properties, Burtoft said, with he and Brown tackling 20 of them.

“I showed some pictures to people when I got back … but until you kind of stand in there and [you’re] standing right in it — it’s kind of unreal for us to see it,” Burtoft said.

In some areas there would be several houses on a block that had burned down but others were fine, he added.

“The people are just shaking their heads, they’re just like, ‘Why me? You know? Why did it happen to me,” Burtoft said. 

At one home, they were tasked with finding a lost wedding ring. The couple had been on vacation at the time of the fire and the ring, as well as a watch, were unable to be retrieved, “we sifted through the debris, and probably 45 minutes after we had started, Steve found it along with a watch.

“But she got so excited, and she had the watch in her hand, and her hands are flying, she threw the watch somewhere, and we never could find it,” Brown said.

Residents know that chances are slim their property might be found but even if they can’t recover any items, they get some closure out of it, Burtoft said, and oftentimes they will assist in the search.

They did find items for other people as well including coins, five guns (too badly damaged to be reused) and cookware belonging to a food service industry professional. 

“It gives the people a closure in their life, their valuables were there, and it gives them a closure,” Brown said. “After we got all completely finished, we would ask them if we could pray with them, and then we gave them a Bible with all of our signatures on it, and they seem to be very appreciative of that.”

The men have participated in disaster relief for about a decade, helping residents in a variety of areas affected by natural disasters. 

Burtoft has been involved with the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief since receiving certification and training in 2015. In 2017 he went to Houston following Hurricane Harvey to assist in making meals for those affected by the natural disaster.

Brown, who said he likes helping people, has also been a member for roughly a decade. He assisted people alongside Burtoft in Boulder following the Marshall Fire, he assisted in Iowa and, closer to home, he assisted in tearing down Wind River Reservation homes affected by mold. 

“I’m always glad to go and help people,” Burtoft said. “I mean, it’s something I believe that God gives me the ability, the strength, the fortitude to be able to go down there and help them people.”