FEMA Reports - 374,000 House Fires in 2012 ... They fled their burning home into the night and watched with horror and disbelief the flames eating through the roof over their daughter's bedroom. Thus began an elderly couple's struggle to overcome trauma and to rebuild. Braced by the outpouring of good will, they regained composure. But more than good will was needed to deal with such exigencies as insurance matters, temporary shelter, demolition, and reconstruction. With almost no library materials to be had to help, they relied on what they thought to be a sign of hope: only their Bible, miraculously, lay undamaged among all the other books. Was it happenstance or was it a miracle that guided them through the maze of decisions and requisites that faced them? Pleasant Things in Ashes Lie gives a candid account of this elderly couple's triumph over adversity. It is written with the intent that others - victims of house fires - may glean from this story something to help them also to triumph.