As the Spokane Complex Fires forced thousands to flee, sheriff’s office chaplains and a therapy dog offered prayer, presence and a listening ear to evacuees at shelters and command centers.
Chaplain Cade Clarke was working in his garage on Saturday, Aug. 1, when his work phone began pinging with disaster alerts about wildfires nearby. He put on his uniform, called a lieutenant to check in and activated three other Spokane County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) chaplains to respond to the command center that was being set up at Glover Middle School.
From 1 p.m. that day to 3 a.m. the next, Clarke and other SCSO chaplains ministered in the shadows at the middle school and a Red Cross shelter: handing out food and water, assisting deputies and listening to evacuees as they described fleeing the Spokane Complex Fires…