Today’s brush fire in Ramona — the Rancho Fire — sent me right back to 2007, when wildfires raged across San Diego County faster than firefighters could respond. Each time the phone rang that October, it was news of yet another blaze: Witch Creek, Harris, Rice Canyon, and on it went. Those of us working for the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego gathered twice a day on conference calls with Bishop Mathes, trying to track which churches and families were evacuating, which had lost homes, and where help was needed next. I remember updating the diocesan website hourly with lists of evacuation sites, needs, and prayers.

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