Man finds Bible unscathed after fire destroys tiny home

TYLER, TX (KLTV) - A fire that badly burned a Tyler man’s tiny home left little behind for him to salvage; however, his personal Bible was among the items left barely touched by the flames.

“He said His word would not perish, and the Bible did not burn,” said homeowner Charles House. “It was scorched but it did not burn. That Man’s word is real.”

Firefighters were called around 4:30 a.m. to the 1900 block of North Border Ave. in Tyler. House said he woke up around that time to a smell he didn’t recognize; that smell was smoke, and fire was already spreading quickly through his home before he realized what was happening.

“I looked up and my whole bedroom was on fire,” said House. “All I could do was just jump up and run out the house.”

House’s home was a storage building converted into a tiny home while he saved money for a larger place. He doesn’t know how the fire started, but he said he’s blessed to have gotten out alive.

“I liked to have passed out trying to get out the door, and it’s fortunate I got myself out of there," said House. “It’s a blessing; I can’t stop saying that because it’s a blessing. Thank God.”

House said the home was ruled a total loss. As he walked through to take stock of what was left, a book stood out from atop the remains of a charred side table: his personal Bible had survived nearly unscathed.

“You can take it away, but you can never stop His word,” House said. “I’m a witness to that right now. Seeing that Bible, in the middle of that fire... it didn’t burn that Bible.”

Tyler Fire Marshal’s Office released a report Friday afternoon detailing the cause of the fire. According to the fire marshal’s investigation, “hazardous wiring” caused circuits to overload and spark the fire inside the home’s walls. The flames then spread from the wall to the ceiling,

House is disabled, and started a GoFundMe page to help raise money to get him back on his feet. If you’d like to donate, you can follow this link to his GoFundMe page.

Copyright 2018 KLTV. All rights reserved.