AG Church Destroyed in California's Valley Fire

"Jessica, if we don't make it out, I want you to take care of our children."

That was the phone call LeAnne Pyzer, wife of Pastor Zach Pyzer, made to her best friend as they attempted to escape from the California Valley fire on Saturday, Sept. 12.

Although fires in drought-stricken California have developed reputations for moving with uncanny speed, the Valley fire moved with such incredible speed that it caught residents - including the Pyzers - and officials completely off guard.

With nearly 20 years of ministry experience, the Pyzers and their four children came to Hidden Valley Lake to serve as pastors at Hidden Valley Community Church (AG) in May. With a congregation of about 100, the Pyzers were just beginning to feel comfortable in their new church and surroundings.

But that all changed on Saturday. That evening, with the fire not seeming to be a real threat to the community, the Pyzers posted on the church Facebook page, "If you need a place to go HVCC IS OPEN."

"The church is an official shelter for the community," Zach explains, "so we wanted to open it up in case anyone didn't feel safe."

It wasn't long after that post that the fire took on a new and terrifying demeanor. Suddenly, it was moving and moving fast. LeAnne says she heard reports that it was advancing at an unheard of speed of 3,500 acres an hour at one point. Zach and the church treasurer met at the church and quickly removed essential files and the church's computer, while LeAnne left the church to get their children, pets, and Zach's parents ready to leave and "go bags" packed.

"We live with my parents, as they're now 86 and 79, and help care for them," Zach explains.

"We've been notified to evacuate because of fires in the past," LeAnne says, "but they usually give us a couple of hours to pack . . . ."

LeAnne says she arrived home and had just told everyone to get their "go bags" ready when she received a call from Zach.

The tone and urgency in his voice left little doubt. "You have to get out of there! You've got to leave now!" he said in a mixture of concern and fear for his family. Zach says that when he called, ash and embers were falling from the sky and "starting fires all over the place". . . and now the fire was headed towards their home.

Taking whatever they had in their hands and their partially packed bags with them, LeAnne marshaled the children into the cars and Zach's parents into their van. "You could already feel the heat of the fire coming over the ridge, it was so hot, it felt like it was burning my skin," LeAnne says.

With the church likely already in flames by this time, the Pyzers headed out, not fully realizing they would never see their home again. "We lost everything," Zach says, his voice trembling. "This was the home my father had built with his own hands . . . everything is gone."

As LeAnne shares their harrowing escape, visions of "made for TV-only/B movies" come to mind - a massive wildfire within clear view, bumper-to-bumper traffic inching along, only two roads out of town and one was already blocked by fire, oppressive heat from the flames, and a family separated into four vehicles -- Zach in one, LeAnne another, Zach's parents in the van, and the Pyzer's 16-year-old daughter driving ahead in the fourth vehicle.

But it was all too real.

"There are two hills on either side of the road as you leave town," LeAnne says. "On one side, it's a part of a golf course, and that's on fire; on the other side is the side of the hill, and the fire is coming over that . . . it was so hot that I had the air conditioner on full blast and it was still super hot inside the car!"

LeAnne says that she heard many reports that this fire was unique in its ferocity and speed, consuming hundreds of homes with many losing all they had. "This time we didn't get an evacuation call until 90 minutes after our house was gone."

As the cars inched along, LeAnne says she felt a remarkable calm. "I'm a person who prefers contemporary Christian music," she says, "but the song that kept going through my mind over and over again was 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus.'" As the song ran through her mind, she called her best friend to give her their children and say good-bye. She then called her parents to confirm her wishes for the children and say good-bye to her parents as well. She knew death could be just moments away.

"It was a terrible experience," Zach says, still struggling with conflicting emotions caused by the magnitude of the losses and the miracle of escaping the blaze. "It took almost two hours for us to make it out of the association area to safety. The church (which was insured) was totally destroyed as was our home and the homes of several others in our congregation -- many people in the community also lost their homes."

The Pyzers have said that the Northern California and Nevada District has already been "fantastic" in its response, promising to prayerfully walk with them and connecting them with U.S. AG Missionary Chaplain Jim Uhey, who assists the district in disaster relief, to help guide them throughout the process. The district is also allowing donations to the church through its disaster relief option on its website.

"And the church has been amazing," Zach says. "We want to come together simply to pray, hug, and shed tears together, but they're also already talking about rebuilding -- only bigger and better for this community!"

The Pyzers say that every church in the area has offered their assistance, including the AG church in nearby Clearlake. The Pyzers have accepted First Assembly of God Clearlake's offer to use its building on Sunday afternoons for the Hidden Valley congregation to gather.

"We are going to rebuild, we are excited about what God's going to do, and we are going to motivate, prepare, and mobilize and help all of those people who lost so much," LeAnne said in a Facebook video message. "We are going to come together and remain strong in the Lord, we're going to walk by faith and not by sight, and we're going to move forward!"

Pictured: The Pyzers' home, a two-story, six-bedroom house shared with Zach's parents, is burned to the ground. Additional photos are included in the gallery above.

Dan Van Veen

Dan Van Veen is news editor of AG News. Prior to transitioning to AG News in 2001, Van Veen served as managing editor of AG U.S. Missions American Horizon magazine for five years. He attends Central Assembly of God in Springfield, Missouri, where he and his wife, Lori, teach preschool Sunday School and 4- and 5-year-old Rainbows boys and girls on Wednesdays.