Wildfires

Tthe book "Norka: A German Village in Russia" by Marie Olson and Anna Reisbeck states that in 1884, "There was a raging fire burning in the threshing field. Word was sent to Pastor Wilhelm Starkel who arrived in his carriage and quickly circled the fire several times while orally reciting a prayer. The fire did not burn beyond the tracks he had made and the nearby fields and granaries were saved."

Another passage from the same book tells about
several disasters including two fires in 1872 where much of the village was burned.

Photo of Rev. Stärkel from the book "Die Kirchen und das religiöse Leben der Russlanddeutschen: Evangelischer Teil" by Joseph Schnurr