In 1978 Pastor Phil Johnston was serving with Tyne & Wear Metropolitan Fire Brigade stationed at South Shields. On April 16^th Phil was part of fire service crew attending a fire in a two storey dwelling, in Jarrow, Tyne & Wear to attempt the rescue of a woman and her teenage son.

Arriving as the second appliance Phil & another fireman gained access to the bedroom where they were caught in a flashover that caused 3^rd degree burns to their hands and arms. On admittance to hospital they required that their tunics were cut from them and admitted to an intensive care ward. The diagnosis was that they would need to be moved to a specialist burns unit for skin grafts once fit. Later that Sunday morning a minister from the Elim Pentecostal Church in the town was on his way to the church when he heard the news and was prompted to come to the hospital and ask if he could pray for the two injured firemen. Interestingly both were backslidden Christians.

The minister was allowed one minute to pray and left without the firemen realising he had visited and prayed. At the next medical assessment later that day the Doctors were amazed to discover that new skin and tissue was already beginning to grow where the burns were most serious. The improvement was so rapid that five days later both were discharged without skin grafts. Today neither of them has any scars or marks to show the severity of what they went through.

This whole incident had a marked affect on Phil and several weeks later along with two Fire Service colleagues he returned to the minister’s church at an evening meeting to say thank you. At that meeting he felt the conviction of Holy Spirit and responded to the altar call in front of his work colleagues much to everyone’s surprise including his own!