Massive House Fire Spares Bible Verses Written On Wall Studs

LIVINGSTON PARISH, La. (CBS Local) -- Firefighters were stunned to find that Bible scriptures written on wall studs had miraculously survived a massive fire that engulfed a house Sunday night, officials in Louisiana said.

The fire was reported at a house off Lobell Road in Livingston Parish at around 7 p.m. Sunday. Seven people who were home at the time escaped without injury.

"We just shut the door and ran," 16-year-old resident Rebecka Lovett told CBS affiliate WAFB.

Soon after the family escaped, at least one propane tank, several guns and a motorcycle exploded in the garage.

It took crews roughly five hours to beat down the fire so they could get in and inspect the home.

"What caught our eyes was that the homeowners had written scriptures on wall studs through the house," Livingston Parish Fire Protection District 2 wrote on Facebook early Monday. "The fire stopped at the scriptures!!"

The Lovetts said they had asked friends and family to "bless" their new home by writing bible verses on the wall studs before it was completed in 2017. Between 60 and 80 bible verses from Matthew, Psalms and Romans were scribbled on the bare wood.

Investigators have not determined how the fire began. Lovett's family believes the cause was electrical because her parents heard popping in the garage and found the entire area engulfed when they went to investigate.

"Nothing else matters if we don't have our family," Lovett's aunt Kacey Chaisson said. "The fact that they're all standing here safe and sound is just a miracle. That's all there is to it."