NASHVILLE – In August 2026, communities in eastern Washington State endured some of the most destructive wildfires in state history, together destroying about 883,000 acres of land and at least 700 structures, and forcing roughly 67,000 people to evacuate.
In response, United Methodist Early Response Team members, pastors, and church congregants in the Pacific Northwest Conference mobilized quickly. With support from UMCOR, they distributed relief supplies and gas gift cards to wildfire survivors, assisted with personal property retrieval and provided a caring presence for impacted families, and coordinated with UMCOR staff to train new disaster case managers local to the area.
As these “classic” response efforts unfolded, an opportunity arose for a new tool to shine — the “solar suitcase.”
An alternative to gas generators, solar suitcases are one of the tools in UMCOR’s new Sustainable Response Technology (SRT) Library, launched in 2025. Developed in partnership with the Footprint Project, the SRT Library offers renewable water and power sources to communities impacted by lost infrastructure access during a disaster or other emergency.
This September, fifteen “Suncase 2425” suitcases were distributed in Spokane to support wildfire recovery efforts, accompanying United Methodist Early Response Teams (ERTs) and being equipped on the conference’s tool trailers and shower trailers, reducing the need for generators and limiting their emissions.
“[I’m] excited about the generator replacement, as they are loud, smelly, finicky, heavy, and large,” said Dana Bryson, one of the co-conference disaster response coordinators (CDRC) for the Pacific Northwest Conference. “A Suncase will never need a carburetor cleaning and rebuild!”
The deployment of these solar suitcases was inspired by an in-person experience with the technology earlier this year. In June, Bryson borrowed a solar suitcase and a Starlink mini from the SRT Library for a live demonstration at Pacific Northwest’s annual conference gathering.
When the wildfires struck months later, Bryson was equipped with the training and knowledge needed to request and distribute the suitcases, implementing a new layer of sustainability and innovation to their response efforts for this disaster and others in the future.
“This is a manifestation of the vision of the SRT library: to expose CDRCs to this technology and teach them how to use it, so that they are ready to integrate it into response efforts on a larger scale,” said the Rev. Jenny Phillips, director of environmental sustainability for Global Ministries. “I’m delighted to see it unfolding.”
Beverly Touchton is a senior social media specialist for United Methodist Communications, supporting Global Ministries, UMCOR, and Higher Education and Ministry.
