Hands of Protection

Dear BFA Community,
I sent the following email to the BFA Board this morning. Thank you for your prayers.
Tim

Dear Board Members,

This email is to inform you of a small fire that we had at the Sonne dorm last night. All boys and staff are safe and the damage was contained to basically one room. At around 11pm one of our RA's, Tommy Bresson, returned from his day off and upon entering his room saw smoke and fire. He called out loudly, pulled the fire alarm, and grabbed a fire extinguisher and got to work on the fire. The boys immediately started to evacuate the dorm. The dorm dad Rick Favazza joined Tommy with additional fire extinguishers to try and put out the fire. Just when they thought they had it out, the fire started again and that's when the fire department arrived. They were on the scene very quickly and finished the job. No water hoses were needed.

The boys had been evacuated to the Blauen dorm across the street and were preparing to spend the night there. At around midnight the fire department and police allowed the boys and staff to return to the dorm - all parts accept the ground floor where the fire was. The investigation will take place later today and then hopefully even those section or parts of it will be reopened to the boys.

Tommy was taken to the hospital last night as a precaution for smoke inhalation. He was cleared at around 2am, but not released from the hospital in spite of his pleadings to be allowed to go home.

The only guess we have at this moment about the origins of the fire come from the fire personnel. They noticed that Tommy's bed may have been pushing up against an electrical cable going into a wall socket. We will know more later. Today the insurance company will get involved and the clean up will begin.

We have much to thank the Lord for this morning: Safety of all Sonne residents. That Tommy went to his room when he did instead of visiting with other friends in the dorm. That the fire was contained so well. No water damage. Limited smoke damage. Limited material loss. That the boys were allowed to return to the dorm within hours of the event. That our fire and police department are so close, fast, and competent. That our fire extinguishers are regularly inspected, up to date, and ready to go. That our fire alarm system worked and all boys got out quickly. That our dorm staff knew what to do. That Blauen dorm was so gracious to offer housing and comfort to so many in their small dorm. That cellphones work so well and kept me in constant contact with the team on the ground. That we have very good fire insurance.

Thanks go to Tommy, Rick, and Joe Stebner for their efforts on the scene. Thank you's go also to Glenn Lewis, and Ingo Meissner for being on hand to offer help.

Tim Shuman
Director
Black Forest Academy


I wanted to pass this along to you to ask you to continue to keep this dorm in your prayers. It seems like the enemy has it in for this dorm this year. In September, one of the RAs was riding along on a mower when it tipped over and he rolled into the creek. He walked away with only a few stitches above his eye. Late in October the dorm mom was in a serious bike accident for which she needed to be hospitalized and receive reconstructive surgery on her face. In November, one of the Resident Assistants was driving through Kandern around a curve, when a logging truck (traveling much too fast for such a turn), crushed the drivers' side of the van. Had she not pulled over for the oncoming truck, she would have been killed. Thankfully, she and the other RA in the van escaped with only minor scrapes.