The Fire

by Cheryl Hollar
(Franklinton, NC USA)

I live in a very small town – something like 1200 population – and about 2 weeks ago, it could have burned down.

It was a very windy, cold afternoon. My twin sister and I went to one of the local gas stations and, while there, I looked up and, in the distance, saw a huge billowing ball of smoke. I called my sister’s attention to it right before she went into the store to pay for the gas.

As she stepped inside, a police car came barreling down the road (which is a major highway) lights flashing, and turned to face the smoke. I noticed he was setting up some sort of roadblock. About that time, my sister exited the store and told me she heard that a trailer park a few miles down the highway had caught fire, and that, due to the wind, the fire had traveled quite some distance.

No one knew just what was going to happen or which direction it would take. We didn’t know what started the fire but assumed someone had been careless enough to burn leaves or something and simply let the fire get out of control.

When we got back home, we turned on the television and were surprised to learn that several counties in our state – North Carolina – were actually on fire! There were brush fires everywhere! The only brush fires we had heard about were in L.A. and California. The news broadcasts aired county after county and roadblocks galore. We couldn’t believe it. Closer to home, major highways in surrounding towns were closed.

Back in my hometown, the fire had spread to a former hosiery mill less than a mile from my house, and everyone in town got a recorded emergency call asking that no one ring 911 unless there were a true emergency – and be prepared to leave if one of the emergency personnel came to your door to notify you in the event of imminent danger.

We never saw thick smoke in my neighborhood and, to tell you the truth, we weren’t in a panic or anything. If we had known at the time what was going on three blocks away, perhaps we would have gone berserk!

It wasn’t until the next day that we learned our friends and neighbors just three blocks from us had been asked to evacuate. Apparently, smoke was so thick in their neighborhoods that you couldn’t see a hand in front of your face. Emergency personnel had gone door to door, and police cars had crawled down the streets, loudly asking that people leave their homes for safer ground. I was honestly taken aback.

One of my friends said it was surreal – when she was leaving, all her neighbors were running back and forth to and from their cars and houses, packing things. Someone else said a fireman advised him that there was no telling which way the wind would go, but if it took a turn in his direction, his home and everything in that vicinity would be gone in 1-2 hours.

You might ask what all this has to do with love. Here’s the point. It’s the love of others more than yourselves - and the gift of time and self-sacrifice. It was told that 20 neighboring towns sent rescue personnel to the scene in my tiny town. That was lot of people literally risking their very lives.

Jesus said, in Luke 10:27 (New American Bible), “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." The “scholar of the law” who had approached Jesus in this instance then asked, “Who is your neighbor?” Jesus went on to tell him – and us - about the Good Samaritan, who helped a man on the Roman Road that had been beaten, robbed, and left for dead.

I’ve been on the Roman Road from Jerusalem to Jericho, and it’s very rocky, with many curves and hills. It’s easy to see why it was known for thievery and such. There are many places to hide and attack someone.

The men and women who helped fight this blaze in my hometown were Good Samaritans, and I think this is a perfect example of loving one’s neighbor. Without these brave, giving men and women, my town really had a good chance of being leveled. I thank God for them and for His Mercy.

In the end, we really did have many things for which to be thankful. The fire was mostly contained in wooded areas – though there were several in the town – and only one home was lost. There were no injuries or lost lives. The fires had begun by the wind blowing so hard that it knocked the wires from a huge light pole, starting what they called “hot spots” – 30 of them in all – and, consequently, brush fires.

I thank God for His Protection and for the courageous love of people who came to the rescue of their fellowman – thinking more of others than of themselves.