English
Korean
Spanish
WEST, Texas – Recovery from the devastation caused by the April 17’s deadly explosion at Adair Grain Inc. in West, Texas, is underway, aided by Texas Southern Baptists. The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief ministry and Texas Baptist Men of the Baptist General Convention of Texas are working together to provide chaplaincy and practical helps such as portable shower units for weary emergency workers.
The SBTC deployed 12 disaster relief chaplains, eleven of whom worked through the weekend with emergency responders and families affected by the deadly blast.
SBTC efforts in West have been coordinated with those of the Texas Baptist Men (TBM) of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
Through the weekend, the blast had claimed 14 lives, including 11 area firefighters and emergency medical personnel. At least 200 were treated for injuries.
The explosion damaged or destroyed more than 100 homes, a nursing home, apartment complex and middle school within several blocks of the blast and registered a 2.1 on the Richter scale, according to news reports.
SBTC chaplains arrived early the morning after the blast and were sent to a family assistance center at the West city library and to the West fire station, where they ministered to first responders and families.
One of them, Wade Taylor, pastor of First Baptist of Alvarado, counseled the family of one of the fallen firefighters at the fire station. The couple had driven from Houston after learning from Facebook posts that their son, a firefighter with the Abbott, Texas, fire department, was among the victims.
“They were trying to get some kind of official word and the official word was not being released. They were able to receive confirmation from some of the rescue workers that their son had been in the building. I counseled with them and prayed with them and was part of the conversation when they were told,” Taylor said. He also spoke with the father on the phone the following day to see how the family was doing.
Taylor also ministered to a school teacher who requested prayer for colleagues and students who lived in the area of the explosion.
The chaplains registered 94 such visits on Thursday. Among those counseled were first responders who had lost friends.
DR personnel attended official briefings and all memorial services and escorted some families into the least damaged area at the request of emergency management officials.
“That can be a very traumatic time for victims and families, when they come in to see the damage to their homes,” said Darryl Cason, SBTC disaster relief trainer and the SBTC’s incident commander with the first wave of DR volunteers.
By Saturday (April 21), officials had divided the blast area into three zones, and started allowing families from the least damaged area limited access to their homes to retrieve belongings.
SBTC chaplains teamed with TBM volunteers to hand out empty packing boxes to families as they drove into their damaged neighborhoods on April 20. The boxes were brought to the site on the TBM box truck and trailer unit.
“SBTC churches across the convention are also going to provide church vans to transport the families of the fallen firefighters to a memorial service [at Baylor University’s Ferrell Center at 2 p.m.] on Thursday, April 25,” said Jim Richardson, SBTC’s director of disaster relief.
“The SBTC has also provided a laundry unit to help families with their laundry needs” at the request of the Best Western in West, where many of the displaced families are staying, Richardson said.
Also, the SBTC and TBM jointly are manning a table at the joint assistance center at the Knights of Columbus hall, where TBM has set up two portable shower units for use by displaced families.
Wade Taylor, who returned to West on Saturday, echoed Cason’s description of the unified effort. Taylor said he would go back as needed, especially as families return to their homes.
Taylor also spent some of his time Saturday at the victim’s assistance center at the West Church of Christ. The center, under the auspices of the Texas Department of Mental Health, offers counseling services from various groups, including chaplains from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and SBTC chaplains. Other relief ministries and agencies are also represented.
Mike Jansen, who replaced Cason as incident commander over the weekend, said: “We will be going door to door, telling people what services we have to provide for them and otherwise ministering to their needs.”
Residents on Monday were trying to remain in their houses, but most lacked water pressure or gas, Jansen said.
Jansen with other volunteers attended Monday morning’s official briefing in West where authorities said that they have been “swamped with donations” from around the country.
National Public Radio, NBC and other news sources reported that some 1,500 West students were to return to classes Monday, either in temporary buildings or in a neighboring school district.
