Christian Singer Rebecca St James' Home 'Miraculously' Escapes California Wildfires
Christian pop singer Rebecca St. James is praising God that wildfires "miraculously" stopped just feet from her home in Southern California, but she is concerned about some of her neighbors who have lost their homes.
"It's a total miracle 'cause the wind changed right when the fires were about to take over our house," St. James writes on her Facebook page.
A picture posted along with the testimony shows trees razed to the ground just feet from her patio.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"A tree in our front yard was burnt and a water pipe burst, but our house is ok! Sounds like the fire came right to our back fence. You can see the proof when you look at where the fire stopped, 3 feet from our back fence. The fire was a 2-3 story wall of flame, only meters away from our home!" she adds.
Several wildfires have occurred this year and some of them are still ablaze in San Diego County, Calif., most of which originated from the Bernardo Fire that had ignited on May 13. The fires have scorched more than 27,000 acres of land north of San Diego and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate, according to Weather.com.
On Wednesday, the singer had written: "We may have lost our house and everything we own to a fire today… I saw the 2 story flames a few hundred yards away. Please pray for us. I got out with [my baby daughter], our dog and a baby book in the car when police were arriving ordering evacuation."
The fires have thus far burned an 18-unit condominium complex, two businesses and 12 single family homes, causing more than $22 million in damage, The Weather Channel reports.
The evacuees were preparing to return home Saturday even as firefighters cleaned up charred hillsides north of San Diego to guard against a resurgence of flames, according to The Associated Press.
Due to drought-sapped vegetation, high temperatures and low humidity, a long fire season is expected in California.
"Normally, I don't even put wildfire gear in my vehicle until the end of April. This year I never took it out," Kirk Kushen, battalion chief of the Kern County Fire Department, was quoted as saying. "We never really completed the 2013 fire season. It's been a continuation."
While about 800 fires are reported during an average year, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection has responded to more than 1,500 fires this year.
Meanwhile, authorities arrested a man and charged him with arson for fanning the flames of a 105-acre fire in Oceanside that began Wednesday but was has been contained.
