Event honors victims of 50-year-old fire

When Frank Hensley rushed into his brother's room on Feb. 22, 1957, to steal a jacket just before school, he had no idea the impact that article of clothing would have on his life.

"He would never let me wear it," Hensley said of the jacket he had always prized.

When a fire broke out in Flat Rock Elementary School in Mount Airy that afternoon, he rushed to the back of his classroom to get the jacket.

"Children were told, 'Don't come home without your jacket,'" he said. "We thought it meant risk going into a burning building."

By the time he got out of the classroom, it was too late. He was knocked unconscious by panicking students in the hall.

Upon waking, he heard screams coming from the classroom across from him. When he opened the door he was confronted with an explosion of fire that knocked him out once more. When he came to again, he was running from the building.

"God got me out of that building," he said, explaining that he has no recollection of leaving the building.

He suffered third-degree burns and was hospitalized for eight months following the fire.

But Hensley's homecoming was marred by his sister's reaction.

"When she first saw me, she screamed and ran," Hensley said, adding that his sister wouldn't look at him for about two days.

Hensley's experience, along with others from the fire at Flat Rock, will be an integral part of the 16th annual Burn Survivor Reunion, sponsored by the Jaycee Burn Center on Saturday.

A group of survivors from the elementary school fire, who have released a book of their experiences entitled "From Triumph to Tragedy," will lead a panel as the central event of the reunion.

The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and registration begins at 9 a.m.

"It's been 50 years," said Shirley Massey, chaplain of the burn center and founder of the event. "This fire helped to start the whole process of disaster planning in North Carolina. It was also the beginning of burn care in the nation."

She said the reunion began as a place for people traumatized by burn injuries to come together to meet other survivors.

In addition to the panel, the event will feature presentations from burn centers across the state and the Carrboro and Chapel Hill fire departments, along with newly added support groups.

There will be a sessions for male and female survivors in addition to one for their family members.

Massey said that the real point of the reunion is to help the survivors lead better lives.

"It's not enough to save their life. We have to be able to provide them resources to reintroduce them into the world."

Massey added that a large part of this process is trying to remove stereotypes of burn survivors in popular culture, such as what she called "Freddy Krueger" images.

The largest part of the conference is bringing together burn survivors from North Carolina to make them aware of one another.

"It's an opportunity for networking," she said. "Survivors in rural North Carolina might not meet another burn victim."

Massey added that the reunion also will give rescue workers and staff from state burn centers the opportunity to come together and see how they have helped the survivors.

As for Hensley, he said he is more than willing to add to the reunion.

"If I can in any way help people, then that's what I should be doing," he said. "I've got 50 years of experience that I can share and help somebody not fall to the pitfalls I have encountered along the way."

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.