Flat Rock, NC -- You could probably drive right through Flat Rock and not even notice. You might pass the elementary school without a second look, but not if you walked in Frank Hensley's shoes."Most people when they see me, I realize they probably have a thousand questions that run through their mind."Ask him about February 22nd, 1957 and he'll tell you about a denim jacket."My brother had a jacket. It was a jeans jacket that I dearly loved and I wanted to wear that jacket."That morning, he wore it to school. It would be the first and last time."About 1:30 that afternoon, 2:00 that afternoon we were in class and teacher ran to the door and yelled something and then slammed the door and left. We were all confused. Just about that moment black smoke began to boil up under the door. It just came in and it began to fill the room, and we panicked instantly."Most children ran, but Frank, just ten at the time, went back for the jacket."That day I received burns over 70 percent of my body."Fire consumed the building in a matter of minutes."The fact was we had no fire alarm system in the school. We had no fire escapes."Dozens were hurt. Two lives were lost. Frank Hensley was almost the third."I turned and looked at the end of my gurney at my feet and there stood Jesus stood at the end of my gurney. He called me by name and told me that I was going to be ok."Frank had a second chance, and he planned to use it well."That's what we try to do in our support group.""What we try to teach people to do is to put forward the best foot they possibly can."Frank does that with stories and pictures. He wants other survivors, of the flat rock fire and any fire since, to find the same peace he has."You can have life after burns and it can be a great life."Frank is working on a memorial to go inside the school, because he believes memories can be healing. Outside the school a tree stands tall, just as it did almost 50 years ago.... the only thing unchanged since that day. And change, Frank says is a good thing. Slow down a little and you'll see it when you drive by.Frank says no one really knows how the fire started, but he says the fire did prompt change.Fire alarms and regular drills are now mandatory in schools."A Time of Remembrance, Remembering the Flat Rock School Fire" is this Saturday from 2:00-5:00pm at the Flat Rock Elementary School gymnasium. For more information you can contact Frank Hensley at 883-2706.The Victim 2 Victor burn support group meets the third Saturday of each month in Winston-Salem at Piedmont Plaza One.
Flat Rock School Fire: 50 Years Later
Mention school fire and most people think about Eastern Guilford, but others remember a local school fire 50 years ago. Lessons learned may well have saved the lives of every EGHS student.
