Soon after the Kinney Hall fire, the college decided to have a short video produced to document not only the tragedy and grief but the positive side of the story as well: the overwhelming response from the community, the hope we have in Jesus Christ, and the healing that has begun. Below are a few excerpts from the video entitled "The Fire: A Story of Tragedy, Hope and Healing."
STUDENT SARAH THOMPSON: We're all like a big community and it feels like we lost part of our family.
NARRATOR [over scenes of devastation inside Kinney Hall]: Authorities say the blaze began here on this couch in a first-floor lounge in Kinney Hall. As the fire spread, smoke quickly filled the hallway and began to seep into the dorm's second floor. Lee Brinckley, a senior art major, was the first to hear the smoke alarms.
LEE BRINCKLEY: When I got to the hallway, the hallway was filled with smoke already. So I ran through my side of the floor knocking on doors, waking everyone up. By the time everyone was woken up, all but two of us had to escape through the balcony, climb down the balcony, because the hallway was so filled with smoke and our lounges were filled that we couldn't see.
NARRATOR: Mark Theiss, the dorm's resident assistant, escaped the fire, but as he stood outside he could still hear some of his classmates screaming for help. Knowing they were still trapped in their rooms, he crawled back into the burning building.
MARK THEISS: None of the guys from the other side on the lower floor were out, so I went back in and, not knowing what I could do, I just did.
NARRATOR: One of those trapped was Thomas Kelly, a physics major and running back on the school's football team. He and two other men lay on the floor of their room under a smothering cloud of smoke and soot. As the fire grew in intensity, Thomas knew there was only one way to get out alive.
THOMAS KELLY: I'd have to say it was a miracle. By the grace of God, something made me stand up--because we could not see, the soot and smoke was too thick--made me stand up. I knew what I was looking for. I closed my eyes.
ROOMMATE DAN HARWOOD: When we were down on the ground, he said, "We've got to get out of here, Dan. It's just too hot, it's too hot!" Then he just all of a sudden let out a big yell and went forward to the window, found the window, and all I hear was, crash, crash, crash.
THOMAS KELLY: I was looking for a window, and I punched it out, and we got out of there.
LEE BRINCKLEY: We started breaking windows when we heard the others yelling from inside who couldn't get out from the downstairs. So we'd break windows and help pull them out....
There's much more to this powerful story. To get your very own copy of "The Fire," call the Advancement Office at (618) 664-2800, ext. 4531. A $5 fee is requested to cover shipping and part of the duplicating costs.There's much more to this powerful story. To get your very own copy of "The Fire," call the Advancement Office at (618) 664-2800, ext. 4531. A $5 fee is requested to cover shipping and part of the duplicating costs.
If you would like to show this video in your church, Sunday school class, or other group setting, call Travis Klopfenstein in the Advancement Office at (618) 664-2800, ext. 4534.