Friday, November 14, 2008

My Alma Mater is on Fire

Santa Barbara is on fire right now and I will be praying big time for the winds to stop. Westmont is very close to where the fire started and so all of the students are in the gym, which is fire safe and they have food there too. Westmont has to be one of the most beautiful colleges and it is truly heartbreaking to think of this loss and I am hoping it is not as bad as the reports are sounding and that there are no injuries. All of those poor families losing their homes too... I hope this fire stops soon. This is unreal.

UPDATE: Westmont did pretty well overall and the gym and library and Kerr Hall are all intact. The gardens ( which are amazing) as well as the chapel are all in pretty good shape too. Part of my freshman dorm was destroyed and a total of 7 other buildings. Three of those were set to be demolished in the coming weeks for new contruction anyway. However, 14 staff members lost their campus homes. These were build after I left but are on campus. I think it is pretty clear they were protected when you see the pictures of the flames and all. It is strange how after something like this you realize how important something can be to you even after many years. I have been walking the campus all night rehearsing many wonderful times in Santa Barbara.I did not realize while I was there what a special place it is and often took it for granted and wished my time away. Praying for you Westmont!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

oh how scary! I went to UCSB and a good friend of mine was at Westmont. You are right - it is an amazingly beautiful campus.