Snatched from Fire

On May 14, 1990, I was in my garage looking for tools to work on my air conditioner. As I headed for the backyard to work on the air conditioner I could hear a voice saying help, help. And I really didn’t hear it because my mind was on the air conditioner so it did not sink in. Then again the voice came, help, help me, and I still could not pick it up, I could hear something coming through the fence, and I shook my head and said to myself what is that noise? I could hardly hear it anyway, so I went back to work on the air conditioner, then this voice screams out “Somebody help me! I’m on fire!” Then I dropped my tools and said to myself, on fire! I ran to the fence and looked through it, and the voice that I heard was a man fighting for his life, fighting a fire he could not put out. From his waist to his neck, he was burning in a fire three feet wide and four feet tall. I stood looking in shock with my teeth clinched tight and my eyes popped out, I had never seen anybody burning like that before, maybe on television but never in real life, I knew I must do something, So I jumped over the seven-foot fence and ran over to him, and tried to put out the fire but I could not. So I threw my arm around him and threw him down to the ground to smother the fire. Now my arm was burning because of his nylon shirt, which had melted to his skin, and had now melted on my hand and arm, so I pull out my smoking arm and laid on top of him to keep him down, Throwing dirt on him to put out the fire. He rolled over screaming and kicking me trying to put out the fire, the fire jumped off his chest as if it was alive and refused to go out, I threw more dirt and sand on him, this time refusing to get up. I called to my wife, Margie! Margie! Help! But she and the kids were in the house, so I called for Mrs. Wilcher, Mr. Wilcher’s daughter-in-law, the man who was on fire, but she was in the house, Mrs. Wilcher! Mrs. Wilcher! Help me, somebody help, But there was no answer and no one anywhere. No one could help me and no one could hear me. Now panic was starting to set in, as I wanted to leave him but I could not go, the fire was still alive and at this point it was winning, he kick me off again, So I threw him down again and refused to get off him, the fire was still going, I threw more dirt trying to keep him down, I looked for Margie and Mrs. Wilcher but still there was no one, so I looked up to heaven and screamed out in a loud voice JESUS! HELP ME! JESUS HELP! And about that time Mrs. Wilcher came running to the back door in shock. Bill! Bill! What’s wrong? What happened! I said go call the ambulance! Go call the ambulance! She ran and dialed 911 and came out, got the water hose and washed us down. When the fire had finally gone out I looked up at Mr. Wilcher’s chest and there was nothing, the fire had taken off his skin, his shirt was gone, I got up and said Lord help him. The pipe he was smoking spilled over on his shirt and started the fire. I walked out of the yard and went home, my arm started to hurt, His nylon shirt stuck to my skin and was still cooking; I called my wife and kids and explained to them what happened, After that we went back outside to see Mr. Wilcher, by that time the ambulance pulled up and was taken him away. By this time the pain hit me and my hand and arm starting to swell so I sat down on the ground next to my garage, and watched the ambulance take Mr. Wilcher away. The pain, the pain I said is too much” I can’t take it, it hurts too much, Oh God stop the pain and take it away, and as I sat there I heard a voice say to me, “ Now you know why I created hell? I looked around to see who it was; I looked up at my wife as if to say did you hear? She did not hear the voice. I looked down at my hand again because of the pain, and again the voice but louder, NOW YOU KNOW WHY I CREATED HELL! The voice was very big and deep and it shook me, after that I knew it was the Lord. My wife took me into the bathroom to peel the melted shirt off my arm and hand, but my skin was coming off too, she said you’ve got to go to the hospital. I wanted to pass out because of the pain.