LULATON — Just a short drive down Highway 82, not far from the Brantley County Airport, is Lulaton Baptist Church.
While the Brantley County airport has been established as central command for the Highway 82 Brantley fire fighting operations, Lulaton Baptist has opened its doors to serve the efforts in a different way.
As a rest and staging area for fire fighters, the Lulaton Baptist site is providing showers, bunks, laundry service and food.
Upon arriving at Lulaton Baptist, one immediately notices the blue and yellow trailers. These house the showers, bunks and laundromat, and were provided by Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief.
Mike Taylor, a member of the Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief leadership team, explained the reasoning behind choosing Lulaton as the staging location. Namely, the close proximity to airport Central Command, as well as the Steve Beal, the chaplain for the Brantley County Sheriff’s Office, also being the pastor of Lulaton.
“The way this works is, we realize there’s a situation where our equipment might be needed or our help might be needed, we get a call,” he said. “Initially this shower unit came, along with that laundry unit. Those came to this church mainly because it is just across the road from incident command. Also, the pastor here is the chaplain for the sheriff’s department.”
The staging station currently operates on two shifts, according to Taylor. The night shift has up to 20 fire trucks on site, and upwards of 50 firefighters “filled up every room of the church.”
People from all over the state have traveled to Brantley County to aid in the disaster relief efforts, usually staying for a week.
As the fire fighting operation grew, Lulaton began splitting operations with other local churches.
“It got to be larger, so then we sent them over to Southside Baptist in Nahunta,” said Taylor. “We sent them over there after they check in here.”
As of Thursday, April 30, the relief is preparing for a second phase — assessing the damage, and helping victims sort through the rubble.
“We’re bringing in teams of people who will assess,” Taylor said. “We will also be looking at going through the debris with people who have been burned out.”
This next phase will include using screens to filter through the ash and dirt for small belongings like rings. It will also see the mobilization of skid steers and other heavy machinery for clearing properties.
Taylor estimated the Disaster Relief Team will likely be here for another three weeks.
“Our main focus is to bring help, hope and healing,” he said.
