From Santa Clara Fire Department

ARNOLD, CA (September 13, 2015) – At least two Covenant families have lost their homes to wildfires that are sweeping across the Sierra Nevada foothills, and others are threatened, Paul Wilson, Pacific Southwest Conference Superintendent, wrote in an email to other Covenant leaders this morning.

Wilson sent the email shortly after midnight, and no other information was immediately available.

The Butte Fire started Wednesday and has advanced quickly to overrun more than 65,000 acres. According to state officials, the fire had destroyed 86 homes, 51 other buildings and was threatening 6,400 other homes.

That fire has been burning in Calaveras and Amador counties, where six Covenant congregations are located. An evacuation center has been set up at one of the church, Good Samaritan Church in Valley Springs.

On Friday attendees of Chapel in the Pines Covenant Church in Arnold, West Point Covenant Church in West Point, and Murphys Covenant Church in Murphys, were among those under mandatory evacuation orders. San Andreas, where Community Covenant Church, is located was issued a mandatory order, but that was later lifted.

“The air is really thick with smoke, and ash is coming down,” Chad Wible, pastor of Murphys Covenant Church said Friday night as he was leaving town.

A second fire being called Valley Fire was ignited Saturday and has raced across 40,000 acres. Four firefighters suffered second-degree burns.