But others sounded notes of futility. "It might be weeks until we find them," said one San Bernardino County firefighter, who declined to give his name.
Dennis Benson, a sheriff's search and rescue volunteer, was among those who went to the slide area Thursday night. He said the flooding ran as high as 20 feet and sounded "like a highway of water."
He returned Friday with Kyla, a golden retriever, to search for the missing. Benson said the search was difficult because of the large area and the debris left by the massive force of the slide. "To see the damage done to the trees and the concrete," he said, "and to imagine what that force could do to a person " His voice trailed off.
Weather officials said 3.5 inches of rain had fallen in the area Thursday. However, Bill Breer, an amateur weather observer whose home just above St. Sophia Camp is one of the few to have survived the fires, said his rain gauge showed that 6 inches had fallen during the day.
"It wasn't the hardest rain I've ever seen," added Breer, who has lived in the area since 1970. "But I've never seen that little creek run like that."
The Greek Orthodox Church has operated St. Sophia Camp, which has been used for both youth and adult retreats, for about 40 years, Bakas said. When church activities are not being held, it is rented to outside community groups for retreats, conventions, weddings and other functions.
At the time of the mudslide, Bakas said, "The only authorized persons there were the caretaker and his family, who lived on the site."
The camp had been spared by the recent fires and was the lone patch of green in a blackened landscape. Beneath it, the city of San Bernardino splays out across the flats; above it, the walls of the canyon rise 1,000 to 2,000 feet.
Still visible Friday were about eight cabins along the creek, a tennis court and a swimming pool, all relatively unscathed. Other buildings that were more directly in the path of the slide had been swept away.
Many of those visiting Monzon were members of his church, Iglesia de Dios de la Profecia in San Bernardino. Nearly all the missing children were members of the church's Sunday school.
Perry Skaggs of St. Sophia Cathedral said the playground where the children were playing sits across an S-shaped creek from Monzon's motel-style home, where the adults were congregated. The location of the playground equipment, close to the creek, could explain why the majority of those declared missing were children, he said.
