June 2015 lightning struck 2 miles from town. Many were in Galena at the time for the annual softball tournament. Our family was living in Galena at the time and working on making the move to Nulato. As soon as we heard about the fire I called a SEND coworker who is a pilot and had a SEND plane in Galena at the time. We filled the plane with able men and flew to Nulato. The next four days was spent just helping in whatever ways were possible. The community evacuated to nearby Kaltag (40 miles down river) The wind blew the fire right to the edge of town as men worked to soak buildings and clear brush away from buildings. Planes overhead dropped water and retardant. The wind shifted multiple times and eventually the fire had burned every side of town without loosing a house. For my part, I spent most of the time driving an old firetruck to hotspots and helping lay hoses and soak structures.
My favorite conversation was when one of the men pulled me aside after several days fighting fire and told me. “you are an honorary member of this community and you are welcome here anytime. Thank you for fighting fire with us.”
I am thankful the fire did not destroy the community that we had already grown to love and I am also thankful that it gave us an opportunity to show how much we care for every member of the community.
Serving Him 
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