A Bible that was lost for more than 20 years in the aftermath of a hurricane is being reunited with its owner after being discovered by a Pennsylvania firefighter.
In a Facebook post, the Oakdale Hose Company recently shared a “strange” account that took place in their firehouse earlier this month.
A firefighter was checking his bunker gear and found a small, faded army-green change purse with a gold zipper in his jacket pocket. He shared his findings with the fire chief, saying, “I don’t know how this got into my gear, but it’s not mine.”
“We go through our pockets and our gear regularly to make sure we have everything, and he just came walking over and he said, ‘Hey, this doesn’t belong to me, I have no idea how it got in my coat,'” Fire Chief Jim Snatchko told CBS News.
Snatchko opened the purse, hoping to find some ID or something to identify its owner.
“It turned out to be a small pocket Bible with an inscription inside,” the Facebook post described.
The Chief took the Bible home in hopes that he and his wife would be able to locate the owner, and they were successful.
After searching the internet, they found former Oakdale resident Amanda Cloutz. She was able to describe the Bible in detail to the couple over the phone.
Its inscription, reading, “The Boys Industrial Home of Western Pennsylvania,” was unique. It was the home that her uncle was adopted from, Cloutz told the couple, adding that he gifted the pocket Bible to her when she needed it most.
“To our shock, the last time Amanda saw this was in 2004 after she lost her home in the flood of Hurricane Ivan. It is undamaged, the inscription is in perfect condition, no rust on the zipper, no stains on the outside,” the fire company wrote in a Facebook post.
The hurricane devastated the Pittsburgh area and most of Cloutz’s possessions more than 20 years ago, and she told CBS News that the find is a “miracle.”
“The fact they found it in good condition in somebody’s coat pocket, it’s a miracle,” she said.
Cloutz believes the reason the Bible may have ended up in the firehouse is because her home was once located next to the firehouse.
Yet, Oakdale Hose Company believes there was something a little more divine at work.
“I’ve spent my entire life in this building,” Snatchko said. “My dad was a fire chief here way back. I literally grew up here. I can guarantee you, this was never here.”
“We (Amanda included) are at a total loss on how this could happen. How did it survive in great condition after Ivan and so many other natural disasters that Oakdale has seen in the last 21 years? How did it end up in our building, which has been flooded so many times? And how … did it end up in his coat pocket?” the post from the firehouse questioned. “This girl has an angel looking after her, and we think he’s pretty cool!”
Cloutz says she is grateful that her treasured Bible was found and returned to her at no cost. She says she has plans to pay the good deed forward.
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