Angelus News | August 2-9, 2019 | Vol. 4 No. 27

The plaque dedicated to the first responders who rescued campers and staff in 2017 outside the
dining hall, now with new fire retardant dark brown paint.
lodge behind him. “But we’re looking
at ways to even make it safer. So a
good number of kids are coming
back who were here the day of the
fire.”
This is Isaiah Simental’s
fourth year at Circle V, and
his first time back since the
Whittier Fire broke out.
He was in his cabin hanging out with
other members of his outfit when
they heard the fire siren. At first, they
laughed, thinking that somebody must
have set it off.
But when a burning tree that had
fallen on the access road they were using
to evacuate forced them to return
to camp, it became all too real.
“I felt scared and I felt sad,” remembered
the 12-year-old. “And I wanted
to get out. But then the fire was like
halfway around the camp. You could
see the fire now in the back. And
some of the windows were melting.
So we were just praying. We were just
hoping that we could get out.”
That was when a man driving a bulldozer
showed up. He started relaying
where loads of fire retardants should
be dropped. And he made a path
behind the dining lodge if the wildfire
got out of control.
“The counselors were giving us ice,
water, and helping kids to sing. They
were doing everything just to help us
calm down. But I thought I was going
to be stuck there, because I had seen
forest fires on TV.”
But led by the bulldozer, campers
and staff members started driving
down the access road to Route
154 again. This time they made it
through. He was glad to be getting
out, but sad, too, thinking the camp
would burn down. “Because I’d been
going here, and I had a lot of good
times,” he explained.
This summer, 95 percent of Circle
V’s campers are either on partial or
even full scholarships, Lopez said.
Few pay the full cost of $600 for a
week of six days and five nights in the
Santa Inez Mountains. And it can be
a life-changing experience.
“You can watch the wonder through
their eyes when they see a family of
turkeys or a deer in a meadow or a
starry night,” said Lopez, “and just see
their awe of witnessing God’s beauty,
where that can be hard in urban places.
Kids today don’t have that opportunity
in city parks, where programs
are filled up or the neighborhood park
isn’t safe.
“So we’re blessed to be part of an
amazing ministry that really gives kids
a chance to be their true selves. The
counselors and the CILTs sacrifice
their summers to make a difference in
the lives of young people.”
R.W. Dellinger is the features editor
of Angelus.
R.W. DELLINGER
18 • ANGELUS • August 2-9, 2019