Culture on My Mind
The Word and the Fire
June 16, 2025

Every so often a news story crosses my desk about a home or church that burned to the ground. What makes them stand out is when journalists emphasize how a bible “miraculously” survived the fire.

The most notable example in American history comes from the fire that consumed Peshtigo, Wisconsin in October 1871. It was a result of slash-and-burn land management propelled by a cold front that merged several fires, eventually destroying 16 other communities and 1.5 million acres of land. It is hardly talked about since it occurred on the same day as the more famous Great Chicago Fire, but it killed at least five times as many people and leveled the town.

One object that remained behind was a bible, charred and petrified, but intact and left open to Psalms 106 and 107. That artifact is now enshrined in the Peshtigo Fire Museum.

Other examples of the phenomenon are plentiful as shown by a Google search for “bible survived fire.” But why?

The first explanation you typically see on social media is supernatural. It’s nice to believe that a god has sent a divine sign, but it’s survivorship bias: A bible surviving a fire is highly memorable and gets publicized, but if a fire consumes a bible, no one reports it. People remember the exceptions more than the rule, and the media is a showcase for that bias.

Let’s be clear, if you find comfort in a supernatural basis for this phenomenon, that’s fine by me. If you’re not interested in the science behind it, feel free to check out now. I won’t be offended. I like to find more terrestrial reasons for the things we see in the world. I saw a news story about this and decided to look into it further.

Okay… science time.

Fire requires three elements to ignite and sustain: Heat, fuel, and oxygen. This is the Fire Triangle, and if any of those three elements is removed, the triangle (and the fire) collapses. Tightly bound paper restricts airflow, so the outer layers of a book may char and burn, but the lack of oxygen inside the book can prevent ignition. The layer of charred material that develops can also insulate the interior, similar to a log on a campfire. Given enough exposure, the log will burn through, but otherwise it smolders on the outside but remains whole inside.

Bibles are often made of different paper than novels or coffee table books. Most bibles I have owned have pages that cling together like onion skin, and that clingy effect further reduces airflow. A hard cover or leather binding further insulates the pages within as it burns over a longer time.

Remember how the Peshtigo bible was petrified? Intense heat can induce chemical cross-linking in paper, resulting in stiffened and strengthened pages which can act like further insulation.

The books that remain open (like the Peshtigo bible) present an easily-ignited outer surface – paper typically ignites at approximately 451°F (233°C), hence Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 – but the low surface area of an open book makes ignition and sustained burning less probable. If it does ignite, the rest of the book is still insulated unless sustained heat is present.

That sustained heat isn’t a given. Once a fire burns through the rest of the fuel – the structure and furniture – it dies down as the Fire Triangle collapses. Fire is also fairly unpredictable and depends on air currents, fuel arrangement, ventilation, and obstacles. Bibles are usually stored in drawers or other enclosures, which can shield them from radiant heat and direct flame.

All of those factors together lead to books surviving fires more often than sensationalist media would have us believe. Fires have been studied for decades. The effects of fire on libraries and archives was specifically analyzed in a study from 2018.

The idea that a god left a divine symbol of hope in the midst of a life-changing tragedy can be comforting. But recognizing the cognitive bias is important.

Equally important is understanding the reason behind what we see in the world around us.

Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.