Church in WV burns, bibles 'untouched' by flames

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Firefighters from several departments worked for hours to beat the blaze — as the flames swallowed the structure and smoke billowed high into the air. Fire officials said the structure sustained heavy damage. But when it was over and firefighters were combing through the rubble, they uncovered church possessions that had survived: Bibles. Farrington said the sacred texts had been scattered throughout the sanctuary, most in seat-back pockets for parishioners and one that was kept on the pulpit for him.

The Coal City Fire Department posted pictures on Facebook showing the Bibles, which had been collected into a pile on the soot-stained ground.

“Though odds were against us, God was not,” the fire department wrote in the post over the weekend. “Picture this, a building so hot that at one point in time, firefighters had to back out. In your mind, everything should be burned, ashes. Not a single bible was burned and not a single cross was harmed! Not a single firefighter was hurt!”
arrington said he sees it as a sign from God that nearly two dozen Bibles were untouched, as were three crosses — two wooden crosses on the walls inside the church and one on the rooftop made of stone.

“In the midst of the fire, God’s word will always stand,” he said.

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