’It keeps you going’: Bible only thing not completely burned in Floyd County house fire

GARRETT, Ky. (WYMT) - Garrett Volunteer Fire Department responded to a house fire in Bolen Branch of Floyd County around 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

“Upon our arrival, the house was fully involved for the most part with extensive fire damage throughout,” said Assistant Chief Grady Allen.

Firefighters thought everything in the home was lost but as they searched the home for hot spots, they found one thing that was not completely burned, a Bible.

“There in the midst of this house fire was a picture of the Lord’s Supper on a Bible that was just barely burnt,” said Allen.

The Bible sat on a shelf in a part of the home with the most damage.

“Nothing else on that shelf was recognizable as whatever it may have been but the Bible was still recognizable and was still for the most part intact,” said Allen.

The Bible was not shielded by anything. When the firemen moved the shelf out of the way, the Bible fell into the front yard.

“They picked it up and found for the most part 85 to 90 percent intact,” said Allen.

Allen says this is actually more common than people think. He has seen six or seven Bibles not damaged in his 15 years as a firefighter.

“I’ve seen them to where the table that the Bible was sitting on was scorched all the way around, and you could pick the Bible up and it was not touched and underneath the table where the Bible was at was not burned at all,” Allen said.

He says seeing something like that is a sign from God.

“To see something that gives you hope and inspiration like the Bible standing in pretty much the pits of hell and surviving it all the way through really gives you hope that there is something else out there,” said Allen.

No one was hurt in the fire and nobody was home. The fire department has still not been able to reach the family. Allen told WYMT they are keeping the Bible at the station and hope to return the bible to the family.

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