Junior high teacher Terry Richards received a call today confirming the annual Calvin Crest junior high retreat has been postponed until further notice, Sept. 5.

Wildfires, including the Railroad Fire, continue to burn closer to the camp and have now reached the edge of camp property. This is the same fire that has burned some of the train equipment and buildings of the Sugar Pine Railroad near Fish Camp.

While the fire has not hit any structures yet, the camp will not be able to reschedule until staff members return to the campus.

This is the second time this class has had their outdoor education field trip postponed due to a California wildfire. 

Richards hopes the camp survives the fire as he believes it is a valuable place for students to visit.

“I don’t know when we will be able to reschedule,” Richards said. “I think God will protect this place and I believe he will. Calvin Crest is a valuable program not only just for us but for public schools as well. I figured it (the postponement) would happen because I was at Hume this weekend and there was a lot of smoke in the air, and I knew that Calvin Crest would have a lot of smoke up there as well.”

This is the first time in Richards’ 18 years of teaching at FC the retreat has been postponed and possibly cancelled due to a threat of fire. However, this is not the first time a student retreat was canceled as the Rough Fire in 2015 caused elementary outdoor education at Hume Lake Christian Camps to be postponed until the following spring. 

Follow The Feather for updates on this story as it unfolds.

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