
Jamie Cashion was only 16 years old when he became trapped inside a raging 2,500-acre inferno with flames towering nearly 20 feet high. Burned alive and certain he was about to die, Jamie says he cried out to God… and then experienced something he...
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Holly Worthington
This episode is brought to you by BonCharge. Visit BonCharge.com using promo code Miracle to show your support,
Emily Jones
Jamie gripped the hose and aimed a steady stream along a fence line to prevent the fire from jumping it.
Jamie Cashin
It was so hot and you can't communicate with the truck. You just had to give them hand signals.
Emily Jones
Suddenly, the fire shifted and started moving toward the brush truck Jamie was on.
Jamie Cashin
And so on the back of my little brush truck is two 10 gallon gas tanks.
Emily Jones
The wall of fire closed the distance. Jamie could see it. He could feel it.
Jamie Cashin
I'm thinking, man, here comes this fire. I'm gonna explode.
Emily Jones
This is the Miracle Files. I'm Emily Jones.
Holly Worthington
And I'm Holly Worthington. We're two sisters who love a captivating true story. But we're also seeking more light in our lives.
Emily Jones
So we're on a mission to find and share unforgettable, uplifting stories of God's miracles. We hope you'll join us on this journey.
Holly Worthington
Welcome back to the Miracle Files. We get to introduce you to an amazing man today. His name is Jamie Cashin.
Emily Jones
Yeah, he is incredible. And you're going to find out why. But before we start, here's just a little glimpse of, of what he's had to go through.
Jamie Cashin
I get stared at every day. You know, people ask, why are you melted? But you know, what's wrong with your fingers? I think it's just a built in empathy that these kids have because they're just so innocent.
Holly Worthington
Yeah, this man has scars and what he went through was so crazy. But we promise you, before this ends, you will love both this man and his story. Yeah.
Emily Jones
You really will. All right, let's get started. The first fire that changed Jamie Cashin's life didn't begin in an open field. It started at home. Jamie grew up in Joshua, Texas, a small town with one stoplight and the kind of familiarity where people notice when someone else's dog is in the wrong yard. In other words, news travels quickly in a place like that. And one day, Jamie received news that no 15 year old boy wants to hear. He was at school when he was informed that his family's house was on fire. His mother had left the dryer running, which had somehow ignited. Volunteer firefighters were called, but everyone in the department was at their day jobs. No one could get to the fire
Jamie Cashin
quickly, and it took a long, long time for the fire department to get
there to put it out.
Emily Jones
By the time the firefighters arrived, the damage was done. The worst part, two of his family's pets had died. In the fire, family photographs and childhood keepsakes were gone. The structure still stood. But something inside Jamie shifted permanently that day. He felt heartbroken at the loss of his home. But beneath the grief, he also felt something else. Resolve. Jamie was determined to do whatever he could to keep other families from experiencing the same kind of trauma. So at 15 years of age, he decided to become a volunteer firefighter himself.
Jamie Cashin
So I thought to myself, you know, if I join this fire department, I've got lots of energy. I can get to the station quick. You can get out of school. And frankly, girls thought firemen were cool.
Emily Jones
At 15, the decision seemed like a no brainer to Jamie. But there was someone who didn't find it a good idea in the slightest.
Jamie Cashin
You had to sign a form. My mother had to sign a permission form, and she wouldn't do it. She's like, you know what? It's too dangerous. I'm not gonna let you do it. If your dad wants you to do it, you can do it. And I just threw back. Well, my granddad was a firefighter. My uncles, my cousins, we got a lot of firefighters. They've been fine. I'll be fine.
Emily Jones
Jamie's mother refused to sign the form. But his father finally consented. It may sound strange for a teenager to join a volunteer fire department, but Jamie wasn't just any teenager. Responsibility had been part of his life for many years. When he was five years old, his mother was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident that broke her neck. From that moment forward, childhood looked a little different for Jamie than most kids. He learned how to bathe his mother. He learned how to catheterize her. He learned how to assist with things most children are never asked to see or do. While other boys were still insulated from hardship, Jamie was quietly stepping into manhood. Though challenging at times, Jamie's childhood was also inspiring. He watched as his mother refused to surrender to her circumstances. Though confined to a wheelchair, she had a zest for life and a fire burning inside of her.
Jamie Cashin
She could still ride roller coaster. And she went parasailing. She didn't give up on life.
Emily Jones
That strength imprinted itself on her son. After joining the volunteer team, Jamie bought his own fireproof jacket. Because the department did not have excess funds, he responded to every call his pager announced. Dumpster fires, brush fires, minor emergencies. By the time he turned 16, he had gained some experience, but unfortunately, not the kind that prepares you for a countywide catastrophe. That came on February 24, 1984. When his pager sounded that day, the Dispatcher's voice carried an urgency that made Jamie's pulse quicken.
Jamie Cashin
The pager went off and this lady screaming, hey, this is a big fire. We've got Fort Worth going to assist. All these small towns are coming together. This is a 2,500acre grass fire and the flames are 18ft high and the winds are gusting up to 42 miles an hour. I know you've heard it. You know God will give you never more than you can handle. And there were several signs that day that God didn't want me on that fire, but I ignored all of them. I was too pumped up, too fired up, and wanted to get on scene and just wanted to do my deal.
Emily Jones
In February, the grass in Texas is dry and brittle. And on this particular ranch, the grass had grown to over three feet tall, fuel waiting to ignite. Jamie climbed onto a brush truck, an F250 fitted with a 500 gallon water tank, and took his position in a small cage at the front of the truck. He gripped the hose and aimed a steady stream along a fence line to prevent the fire from jumping it. Smoke rose across the field and the flames crackled. The heat was intense enough to singe the hair on his arms.
Jamie Cashin
It was so hot. And you can't communicate with the truck. You can now. Back then you could not. You just had to give them hand signals. So it's scorching me pretty bad. Then all of a sudden, we got a mayday on the radio.
Emily Jones
Larry Stevens, a local feed store owner in his 30s and a father of three, had volunteered to help drive a water tanker. He was not experienced with the manual transmission and his truck stalled in the middle of the ranch surrounded by unburned grass. With the fire closing in on him, to reach him, the crew would have to drive through that same tall grass. Jamie moved from the front platform to the back of the brush truck so they could move faster. Suddenly, the fire shifted and started moving toward both Larry Stevens and the brush truck Jamie was on.
Jamie Cashin
The wind had changed directions and started coming towards us.
Emily Jones
The raging inferno was frightening enough, but there was something else that scared Jamie even more so.
Jamie Cashin
On the back of my little brush truck is two 10 gallon gas tanks like you'd see on the back of the old jeeps in case you ran out of gas. And I'm thinking, man, here comes this fire by these two 10 gallon gas tanks, I'm gonna explode.
Emily Jones
What had seemed safe and manageable suddenly was not. The wall of fire closed the distance. Jamie could see it. He could feel it. The gas Tanks were going to blow. Jamie couldn't just sit there. Without telling the driver, without even knowing if the driver noticed, Jamie jumped off the truck and hit the ground running.
Jamie Cashin
And I'm running the opposite direction of the fire. And then the wind changed directions again.
Emily Jones
The fire had shifted so that Jamie was actually running toward the flames. He adjusted his direction, but time was something he wasn't just short on. Time was out. Grass fires don't creep forward slowly. They advance with terrifying speed. Within seconds, the flames caught up to Jamie. They began licking at his back furiously. Jamie was out of options. He thought back on his training.
Jamie Cashin
And you're supposed to stop, drop and roll. So I'm rolling. And as I'm rolling, I'm just cooking because I'm in the middle of this fire.
Emily Jones
There was no safe, already burned ground to drop onto. No blackened refuge, only dry grass being swallowed up by the flames. Jamie's flesh was literally melting. The ground itself was burning. Rolling did nothing to extinguish flames that were fed by everything around him. His fireproof coat ignited. Flames shot up the collar and onto his face. The roar of the fire was overwhelming, swallowing all other sound. Smoke and heat disoriented him. He couldn't see clearly. He couldn't hear anyone calling his name. In that moment, a realization settled over him with absolute certainty he was going to die. He only had one place to turn. He needed God's help.
Jamie Cashin
And I'm crying out to God not to make a deal, but I'm just like, please don't let me die. I'm only 16, you know, I don't want to die. Save me, save me, save me. I'm screaming this.
Emily Jones
Then something happened that Jamie has never been able to explain through natural means. He felt himself being lifted. He felt his body rise.
Jamie Cashin
Either Lord God himself, Jesus, or an angel. Somebody lifted me up. Without a fact. Somebody lifted me up. I did not get up on my own accord, not at all. And no fireman lifted me up because there was only one left and he'd have been burned to death doing that. So no one went in the fire and pulled me out. I physically rose up. I just simply coasted. I was perpendicular. Several fell to the ground and I couldn't see because my face was on fire. I physically rose up and went directly to a fireman.
Emily Jones
Dwayne Capps, the firefighter and driver of the truck, saw Jamie near the fire's edge and rushed forward, suffering second degree burns himself while beating out the flames, consuming Jamie's body. Dwayne placed Jamie on The back of the truck, Jamie's mind raced with questions. Am I going to die? His boots were still smoldering, melting into his feet. Through the smoke. With Jamie jostling in the back of the truck, still writhing in pain, Dwayne raced to toward town. The 18 foot flames had tragically engulfed Larry Stevens, the man driving the other truck. They should have taken Jamie as well. Even so, he would still have to journey through the flames of adversity.
Jamie Cashin
So we finally get to a small hospital called Ugley Hospital. And as they wheeled me in, I was still very aware of what was going on. As a matter of fact, it hurts so bad that it just didn't hurt anymore. Because it hurts so bad cooking that you just. You just don't. You just didn't feel it. God puts you in shock.
Emily Jones
Jamie was still conscious enough to remember being wheeled through the doors of the hospital. He remembers the sound of his mother arriving, the loud metallic click of her ring hitting the spokes of her wheelchair as she hurried toward him. Even though she'd been a paraplegic since Jamie was 5 years old, at that moment, she moved faster than anyone else in the room. She screamed Jamie's name. He told her he was okay, but he wasn't. From there, Jamie was airlifted to Parkland Hospital in Dallas, home to one of the state's major burn units. Doctors placed him in a medically induced coma for weeks. But when he awoke, the real battle began. 36% of his body had been burned, much of it third degree. His left side was worse. Face, hand, leg. His lungs had suffered damage from the heat and smoke. Skin grafts became routine. Dead tissue had to be washed away daily. At Parkland, they administered strong pain medication. Even so, it was excruciating.
Jamie Cashin
They will slash skin off your body when it's healed and put it in the proper place. But if you don't have that available or you're dying, they give you pig skin. So they put pig skin on parts of my legs, parts of my face.
Emily Jones
When a doctor recommended amputating three of Jamie's fingers, his mother intervened, sitting in her wheelchair beside Jamie's bed. She refused the doctor's recommendation.
Jamie Cashin
And he says, hey, we're going to have to cut off these three fingers because they're not going to be useful. And my mother was there and she says, well, I can't use my legs, but you're not going to cut them off. I want to keep them. He's going to keep his fingers whether he can use them or not.
Emily Jones
Her voice carried the authority of someone who had already lost enough. Eventually, Jamie was transferred to Shriners Burn Institute in Galveston, where treatment grew even harsher. There, he endured daily beridement to remove the dead and damaged tissue in a bleach filled tub without pain medication. The pain, he would later say, surpassed the fire itself. The only day he was spared the scrubbing was surgery day, and surgery felt like relief. There were moments when he wanted to quit, when the pain and exhaustion felt heavier than hope. He told his family he was tired and ready to give up.
Jamie Cashin
My mother fell out of her wheelchair and pulled herself across her arms and tried to lift herself up and said, I don't have these legs. I never gave up. And you will not give up. You will not give up.
Emily Jones
So he didn't. Instead, he fought through months of grueling recovery until he was finally released from the burn center. But then, upon returning to high school, he faced a different kind of fire. To keep his scars from thickening, he had to wear a tight plastic face mask 23 hours a day. His hands were fitted with splints and wires that stretched his healing fingers. When he walked into a private school hallway wearing that mask, teenagers stared. Some pointed, some laughed. Humiliation burned almost as fiercely as the flames had. He called home asking to leave. His mother listened quietly and then asked one question.
Jamie Cashin
And she goes, how'd you get to this phone? And I said, pardon me? She goes, how'd you get to the phone to call me? I said, well, I walked. She goes, that's right. I'll never fill the grass. I'll never swim, I'll never run, I'll never jog, I'll never ski. Now you walk back to your desk and you learn, yeah, she was something. And, yeah, very, very, very, very strong. And that's what you need, you know, God knew that's what I needed.
Emily Jones
Over time, survival became something more than endurance. With a mother who encouraged Jamie to fight, and a mighty God who healed Jamie's life, Jamie returned to service, eventually becoming a reserve firefighter and working in fire prevention. He now teaches young children about fire safety, standing before them, openly scarred and unashamed. Using his own story as a warning and a testimony, he also devotes his life to martial arts, rising through the ranks over decades to a 10th degree black belt, the highest rank in American karate. What began as a way to defend himself has become a platform to encourage others, especially children who feel different, invisible or broken. He kneels to their level. He speaks life into them. He reminds them they are capable. The boy who once tried to run from flames now walks back into hard places willingly. A life nearly taken by fire became a life committed to pulling others out of it. And when Jamie reflects on that day in 1984, on the moment he rose from the ground and moved through 18 foot flames toward the only firefighter left on scene, he does not offer a scientific explanation. He offers a testimony to anyone who is going through their own fire, their own depression, their own insecurity, their own pain.
Jamie Cashin
God trusts me with these scars, so I need to make them count. I was in an oven. I mean I was in a 2500 acre oven cooking for almost a minute in 18ft flames. And just the miraculous miracle of me being pulled out of that is I just can't, I really can't grasp it at times. I mean, I was surrounded by flames. I cried out to our Lord Jesus and I got saved. And the same thing can happen to you.
Emily Jones
The scars Jamie carries are no longer reminders of destruction. They're proof of redemption. And that God carried Jamie through fire and can carry you through it too.
Holly Worthington
So many things I love about this story. I mean, Jamie is now one of my heroes and what he experienced is just absolutely incredible. It's just unexplainable.
Emily Jones
I know. It's like whatever, whoever carried him out of that fire like that was divine intervention, I have no doubt.
Holly Worthington
Yeah, yeah. That came from God and he said that there was no one else that could have carried him, that he didn't raise himself up and that he was carried out of the fire to the firemen. It's just amazing.
Emily Jones
Yeah. He actually sent us a video clip all the way from back in the 80s when this happened. He was on the news. So it's really cool to hear him and his perspective at that age. Volunteer firemen from around that area, including
Jamie Cashin
the town of Joshua, helped bite the blaze. But before that blaze could be brought under control, three firemen were injured. 38 year old Larry Stevens burned over 90% of his body, later died at Parkland hospital. But his 16 year old colleague is making a remarkable recovery. He's the subject of tonight's follow up file with Phyllis Watson.
Emily Jones
Phyllis Tracy.
Phyllis Tracy
Young Jamie Cashin suffered Burns over 28% of his body. Do said it would take at least six months before he was ready for any sort of therapy. But Janie is fooling everyone. He wanted to dance for our camera, but his therapist put him to work. For the past few months, Jamie's been dancing his way through pain and misery. He never stopped teasing or joking with those around him. Even though he knows how close he came to death, the fire Jamie was fighting last February 26th almost took his life. You can see where the strap of his fire helmet blocked flames below his chin scars mark where his boot burned through. His hands are charged, his nails are mangled. Most burn patients who've gone through what Janie has wouldn't be ready for this type of therapy so soon after their injury. But Janie isn't an ordinary person.
Emily Jones
I just may ask for help if I make one of my goals to go back and do it again. No, I can't wait. I'd be laying in a hospital bed. A doctor walked by the beeper and it started beeping. I'd jump up, you know, on your abl.
Phyllis Tracy
Jamie is ready to go. Just two months after his accident, he still wants to be a fireman. He admits there was a time lying in the burn center that he had his doubts. But his mother was confined to a wheelchair. Would not take I can't as a reason for anything.
Emily Jones
She sat in that wheelchair the whole time I was in there. You know, it wouldn't leave me.
Phyllis Tracy
His mother may be his link to strength, but Janie has his own philosophy about life and love. But those who may be suffering through what he has just, he offers this bit of advice.
Emily Jones
Oh, don't quit. Just don't quit. Just keep on praying her.
Phyllis Tracy
That philosophy has helped Jamie keep up with his schoolwork. He's a sophomore now and will pass at the end of the school year with his class.
Emily Jones
Isn't that so cool to see him as like this young man with such a positive attitude?
Holly Worthington
Yeah. Even back then, Jamie wanted to immediately get back out there and fight fires again and help others. And it reminds me of that quote, if you heard that quote by Mr. Rogers where he said, when I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.
Emily Jones
And that's Jamie.
Holly Worthington
He is a helper.
Emily Jones
He is absolutely.
Holly Worthington
He truly lives to help and serve others.
Emily Jones
I know, you know, it's so interesting. So we have another story to share about Jamie just to illustrate what kind of a person he is. He was in Alaska and he witnessed this man, this like 20 something year old man, robbing a cab driver. And this cab driver is like in his 70s and this cab driver's like begging for his money back. And this big man is just not going to give him his money. And Jamie steps in and is like, hey, what are you doing? And he follows this big guy, probably twice his size, into the hotel. And. And he confronts him and he says, give him his money back. And this big guy sees Jamie half his size and is like, yeah, you're not going to tell me what to do. And he goes and he basically attacks Jamie. But as we all know, Jamie's got skills. And so here. It was all actually caught on video. So here's a little clip of that moment when he is fighting off this robber.
Jamie Cashin
Better stay back.
Emily Jones
Okay. So Jamie continues to warn this guy to stay back.
Jamie Cashin
Y' all want to get in there? Telling you, now you're getting in my space.
Emily Jones
This man is just circling around him, and he approaches him, gets right in his face. And then Jamie starts to defend himself. I mean, he tried to warn him several times, and the guy just wouldn't stop.
Jamie Cashin
Look at you.
Emily Jones
So then they end up wrestling. They're fighting through over here.
Jamie Cashin
This is one off.
Emily Jones
Eventually, they end up wrestling on the ground, and Jamie gets this guy pinned. Isn't that crazy? Yeah.
Holly Worthington
So Jamie gets this guy on the ground, and then other people start to get involved, and this cab driver gets his money back.
Phyllis Tracy
Right.
Holly Worthington
I mean, Jamie's not a big guy, but his karate skills are unbeatable. As a 10th degree black belt in
Emily Jones
karate, I know I wouldn't mess around with him.
Holly Worthington
Yeah. In fact, in January 2014, he was contacted on behalf of Chuck Norris and Gina Norris to see if he was interested in serving as the executive director for Kickstart Kids, which helps kids build character through karate.
Emily Jones
Yeah. It's so funny. He sent us all these pictures with him and Chuck Norris, and we're like, hey, do you know Chuck Norris? He's like, oh, you mean Carlos. I know Carlos. We're like my good friend Carlos. Apparently, that's Chuck Norris.
Holly Worthington
We don't call him Carlos, but yeah, that's what we mean.
Emily Jones
We're not on first name basis apparently, but yeah, like, through this amazing opportunity with Kickstart kids, he's been able to help thousands of kids, and they work on building character and being healthy mentally, physically, through karate, which is pretty amazing. Yeah. Yes.
Holly Worthington
In 47 Texas schools, so.
Emily Jones
Right.
Holly Worthington
Very cool. And he also received the presidential sports award for karate from President Bush and President Clinton. Like, he. This guy's lived quite.
Emily Jones
Super impressive. Yeah. Yeah. Super impressive.
Holly Worthington
But before we end, we've got to mention somebody else. Like, another one of my new heroes is his mother.
Emily Jones
I know. She was so amazing.
Holly Worthington
She was awesome. And it seems like she was such a strong woman, but also, like, the perfect mom to help him go through what he had to go through.
Emily Jones
Yeah. Her tough love was exactly what he needed. Yeah.
Holly Worthington
Yeah. Definitely helped him to become the man he is today.
Emily Jones
Yeah. All right, well, we want to thank you guys for joining us today. Make sure you share this podcast with your family and friends, anyone who you think could use an uplift, and we'll see you guys next time.
Holly Worthington
We'll see you then. Thank you for joining us. If you have a miracle to share, contact us@themiraclefiles.com or find us on social media. We release new episodes each Monday.
Emily Jones
Yes. So don't forget Miracle Mondays. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and YouTube for amazing video content as well.
Holly Worthington
Join us next time as we discover more of God's miracles. And don't forget to look for his light in your own lives.
Jamie Cashin
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Emily Jones
Visit spinquest.com for more details.
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Episode 69: “Sixteen-Years-Old and Engulfed by Flames”
Date: May 18, 2026
Hosts: Emily Jones & Holly Worthington
Guest: Jamie Cashin
This emotionally charged episode of The Miracle Files tells the faith-filled, inspirational story of Jamie Cashin, a Texas teenager who survived a devastating grass fire at sixteen—an event that left him permanently scarred but transformed his life and faith. Through first-person accounts, the hosts explore themes of divine intervention, resilience, family strength, and the power of choosing purpose over pain. Jamie’s journey from trauma to triumph, his ongoing work to inspire and protect others, and the unwavering role of his mother, render this a story of modern-day miracles.
The episode blends gripping storytelling with faith and hope, channeling the tension and vulnerability of a true-crime podcast into an uplifting, miraculous narrative. Jamie’s voice is honest and sometimes humorous, never shying from painful truth. The hosts guide listeners from harrowing disaster to awe-inspiring recovery, always returning to the steadfast love and grit of Jamie’s mother and Jamie’s deep faith.
For anyone facing “their own fire,” Jamie and his mother’s testimony is clear: Don’t quit. Keep praying. Your scars can become your purpose.
If you are looking for moving, faith-based stories of perseverance and genuine miracles—without sugarcoating hardship—this episode will leave you both amazed and encouraged.