Fire Burns Warehouse Filled With $100,000 in Food for Needy

An early-morning blaze gutted a warehouse near Orange that contained $100,000 worth of food collected by LORDS Ministries, a nonprofit organization that says its distributes food to 30,000 poor people each month in Los Angeles and Orange counties as well as in Mexico.

Some 55 firefighters battled the fast-moving blaze that took an hour and 40 minutes to control, according to county Fire Capt. Joe Kerr. Four fire investigators sifted the rubble Thursday to determine the cause of the three-alarm blaze.

Steve Gunn, 22, a LORDS Ministries volunteer was inside the warehouse at 2875 Orange Olive Road when he heard popping noises about 1:40 a.m. “I awoke and saw flames and attempted to put it out,” Gunn said, “but it had already spread.”

Kerr said that Gunn and two other volunteers who regularly slept in the metal warehouse were lucky to have escaped injury because the 1940s structure had neither smoke alarm nor sprinkler system. The fire also destroyed two trailers owned by the ministry.

The Rev. Louis F. Forkell, who heads the Orange County-based LORDS--which stands for Lord Our Righteous David’s Seed--said he was joyful in the face of catastrophe. “The Bible says the joy of our Lord is our strength. I just think, ‘Lord, you said whatever you take away, you will give back sevenfold.’ There’s no defeatism with God.

“I’m not glad that the ministry had a problem, but from that problem greater things will come.”

Forkell, 55, said he began his food ministry nine years ago, with 33 cans of food. Since then, he said, the ministry has expanded to feed 30,000 people each month from Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange counties, as well as Mexico. Forkell said 10 to 12 volunteers are the ministry’s only staff.

Many volunteers gathered Thursday at the ministry’s small office building in front of the gutted warehouse. Singing hymns and saying “Praise the Lord,” they expressed optimism about the ministry’s future. Jess Ramos, assistant to Forkell, said, “We’re not giving up. God has greater things for us.”

Warehouse owner Gene Straud said insurance will cover the estimated $50,000 loss of the structure. However, Forkell said he had never insured the food, valued at $100,000, because “I have assurance from the Lord, I don’t need insurance from man.”

Fire spokesman Kerr said an inspection four months ago of the building, located in an unincorporated pocket of Orange, revealed no obvious fire-safety hazards.

Kerr said the fire call came in at 1:46 a.m., and when the first fire truck arrived four to six minutes later, the warehouse roof was partially collapsed and flames had engulfed most of the building.

The blaze also destroyed two travel trailers behind the warehouse, displacing two families, Forkell said. Robert Alexander, an American Red Cross official, said the Red Cross is providing food, clothing and shelter to the two families.

Kerr said only one injury was reported, that of an unidentified county prisoner who was part of an inmate work crew assigned to clean up debris. He was treated and released at UCI Medical Center in Orange after complaining of chest pains. The blaze also damaged phone lines and interrupted telephone service, which was restored to 50 customers by about noon, according to Pacific Bell.

Network of Congregations

LORDS distributed frozen food, canned goods and fresh produce through a network of congregations. The Rev. James Thompson of Compton Holy Bible Church of Lynwood said he was “very sorry to hear about it. They’ve been quite a service to us.” Thompson, who runs a food ministry out of his church, had picked up a truckload of food from the Orange County warehouse each week for the past nine months.

In Covina, Faith Community Church just launched its own food distribution program, after distributing food from LORDS Ministries for the past year, the Rev. George Nahom said.

Nahom, who said his congregation prayed for LORDS Ministries this morning, said, “They’ve been very nice to me. We work together. We’ve got to call them up and see if they need any help.”

LORDS spokesman Ramos said volunteers work to distribute the food that comes from private donations and from grocery stores. The LORDS Ministries also buys food at low prices and gives it away, he said.

Michael Day, who runs the Sword and the Spirit Ministry in El Monte, makes a trip into Mexico twice a week with a truckload of food, some of it from the LORDS Ministries, he said. “I know they do a tremendous amount of work of feeding in the L.A. and Orange County areas,” Day said.

‘Filled to Ceiling’

Jim Krueger of Garden Grove first came into contact with LORDS Ministries when his family needed help a few years ago. Since then Krueger has been a full-time volunteer in the ministry because, he said, he takes to heart the biblical commandment “to feed the hungry and clothe the naked.” He said the warehouse, which included a large freezer, was “filled to the ceiling.”

But neither Krueger nor volunteer Mavis Fewell were disheartened. Although she had tears in her eyes, Fewell said she believed “the Lord will turn it around for the good.”

Sitting on the porch of the ministry office, Forkell said he was going to get through the day of the fire and then start planning. Already, he had decided to use one of the semi-trailer trucks to store food until a new warehouse location is found.

“I got to get through this day and wait for the Lord to take care of things,” Forkell said.