Barnabas Ministries UK

Rev. E. Anderson

FIGURES AMID THE FLAMES

by Debra Faust

The fire fighters said it was one of the hottest fires they had ever encountered.

I was putting the final load of clothes in the drier at about 10.30 that overcast May night last year. When you have four kids at home you do a lot of washing. I was exhausted, and I figured I’d leave the folding until morning. I flipped the door shut and the dryer started with a determined rumble.

The laundry room was on the first floor of our old house, just off the living room, where my husband, Bob, sat watching television. I gave him a pat on the shoulder as I passed through. ‘Goin’ up,’ I said as he squeezed my hand.

I made my way up the sturdy old staircase to the master bedroom, recently created by knocking down the wall between two smaller rooms. It was in the middle of a paint job. The mattress lay on the floor and much of the furniture lined the hallway. But that night I didn’t mind. I just wanted to crawl into bed — wherever it was.

Alicia, 14, said good night and headed down the hall to the room she shared with her sister, Wendi, 12. The boys – Sean, 4, and Dale, 10 — shared the other bedroom. I fell asleep almost instantly to the drone of the TV coming up through the floor. I must not have been sleeping long because Bob’s voice still came from downstairs when I awoke to the shock of him yelling, ‘Deb, the house is on fire!’

I pimped up, alert but a little disoriented. I stepped into the dark, cluttered hallway to be met by the overpowering stench of burning wood and insulation. ‘I can’t use the phone!’ Bob shouted up to me, his voice seeming to rise on a cloud of thick, billowing smoke. Til run next door!’

‘Hurry!’ I called back. I’ll get the kids.’

I rushed to the boys’ room, ‘Fire!’ I shouted. ‘Get up! Fire!’ I grabbed little Sean, but Dale slept soundly on the top bunk. I shook him. ‘Dale, get up! Fire!’

Then I shouted to the girls. Acrid smoke tumbled up the stairs, filling the hallway. My eyes stung and my chest burned> I stumbled towards my daughters’ room. Everything was happening so quickly in chaos of fear and confusion. I still had Sean in my arms. ‘Every­body out!’ I screamed, but the words seemed to bounce back in my face in the engulfing smoke.

I met Alicia coming out of her room. She was dazed and coughing. I took her by the shoulders. ‘Get Wendi,’ I told her.

A horrible panic came over me. Blinded and short-winded, I went back to see if Dale was up. I could barely get enough air to shout. I bumped into Alicia again and asked about Wendi, but all she could do was gag. Dale and Wendi must have got out. Alicia, Sean and I felt our way to the bottom of the staircase, cringing from the heat and flames shooting out from the direction of the laundry room. Then we burst through the smoke and out onto the lawn.

I opened my eyes and gulped the sweet night air, pulling Sean and Alicia close. A sprinkling rain began to fall and it felt good on my skin. Bob ran up to us, eyes wide and searching. ‘Where’s Dale?’ he asked. ‘Where’s Wendi?’ I began screaming their names and look­ing all around me. Bob ran toward the house.

They’re still inside. My babies are still inside!

‘Mum,’ Alicia said, Tm going in to find them.’

‘You can’t go back in,’ I said, catching my breath and handing her a crying Sean. Til go.’

I dashed up to the front door, where Bob was being driven back by the heat and smoke. He grabbed me. ‘I couldn’t get farther than the landing, even on all fours,’ he gasped. ‘It’s no use. The fire engines will be here in a minute.’

I fell to my knees sobbing, feeling utterly helpless. I screamed inside my heart. Help them! Bob and I began to yell, telling Wendi and Dale to follow our voices. My throat burned from the smoke but I kept yelling, my voice hoarse and cracked. Flames danced through the living room off to my left. I heard glass shattering and a roar like a giant blowtorch. The air itself seemed about to burst into flames. Directly in front of me I could make out the first few steps of the old stairway before it disappeared into an undulating cloud of smoke, tongues of flames lapping its sides. Where were my children?

Then, in that thick haze, two figures appeared on the stairs. They seemed unaffected in any way by the raging blaze. Such calmness glowed about them that I stopped crying. Thank you, Lord, I prayed, standing up. Thank you. A complete serenity overtook me. Time slowed, stilled.

All at once the figures were gone. One small hand pushed through the smoke. Dale! His daddy grabbed him, sweeping him into his arms. Where is Wendi? Then her hand emerged. I pulled her out and we fell back to the lawn, crying.

The six of us huddled together as if we would never let go, watching as our house went up in flames. Forty minutes earlier I had fallen fast asleep in my bed. Now my family and I were home­less, standing in the rain in our nightclothes. When the fire engines pulled up, we retreated to our neighbour’s front porch.

The old bricks in our house held in the tremendous heat, almost like a kiln, and the fire grew quickly, consuming almost everything. One fireman who tried to get in with a hose had his face shield melted. The fire fighters said it was one of the hottest fires they had ever encountered. The investigation pointed to the drier. Apparently highly combustible lint had clogged the faulty exhaust hose. There wasn’t much the fire fighters could do to save our home once the blaze began.

Neighbours came to our rescue with clothes to wear until we could buy new ones. People donated food and kept us in their prayers. We spent that first night with our pastor, then a week with friends. After another week in a motel, we were able to find an apartment. Clothing poured in, especially for the little guy Sean. The school went into high gear to replace Wendi’s and Dale’s instruments so they could play in a band concert that first week. We always knew we lived in a wonderful community but we found out just how wonderful our people could be. Mighty God reached out to us through the helping hands of neighbours and friends -angels each and every one.

There are earth angels and there are heavenly angels. The two magnificent figures that appeared on the fiery staircase that night were sent by God to save my children, who miraculously escaped the flames unharmed and safe.

When Wendi told me, ‘Mum, someone pulled me out,’ we assumed she meant Dale.

‘No, Mum,’ he said. ‘I didn’t even know she was there.’ We’re convinced Wendi felt the hand of an angel!

Almost immediately we began building a new home on the same site. We moved in just in time for the holidays last year. Our Christmas tree had handmade decorations from family and friends.

How thankful those holidays were! A house can always be rebuilt. God looks after families first – with angels at the ready.