CAROLINE COUNTY, Va. — Bowling Green, Virginia, a nearly 200-year-old community, has survived not one, but two devastating fires that occurred on the exact same date, 55 years apart.
April 10, 1955 marks the day when fire nearly wiped this corner of Caroline County off the map.
What began as a peaceful Easter Sunday quickly turned catastrophic when fire broke out in a downtown storage building and flames spread rapidly through the town.
"It was so surreal that you didn't know what was going on. You couldn't believe it," said 85-year-old Joe Lanford. "The wind was blowing excessively so it didn't take long for the wooden structures to catch on fire."
Lanford narrowly escaped.
"I had too much smoke and a few people had to drag me out of there," he said. "But it was so thick and it came all of a sudden."
Bernie Collins, now 90, was playing baseball when the fire started. The college student ran toward the flames but quickly realized the danger.
"The wind was blowing so hard. I could tell at that time they were not going to stop this fire," said Collins. "But when that explosion went off and the fire went up land way up as high boom, it was time that we left and I left."
The fire grew so intense that even the town's water tower burned. Despite assistance from 16 fire departments, including some from as far away as Richmond, more than two dozen homes and businesses were destroyed.
Virginia Limbrick, a Caroline County native, was riding in a car with her family when they noticed smoke.
"My dad asked what was wrong and they said you can't get into town because the town is burning," said Limbrick.
Craig Woodward was just 5 years old when his hometown caught fire, destroying his father's appliance business.
His father, Craig Sr., was also the fire chief and co-founder of the volunteer fire department.
"We heard noise. We heard firetrucks we heard sirens. We heard all kinds of stuff. And we could see the smoke of course," said Woodward. "When we got up there, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. People were running around. Like this gentleman. They just didn't know what to do. It was crazy."
Ray Campbell, a Bowling Green historian and author, called it "an Easter miracle" that no one was killed.
"Everything else was ashes," said Campbell. "I would say it was total devastation."
What makes this story even more remarkable is that this wasn't the first time disaster struck the town on April 10. In an eerie coincidence, Bowling Green had burned down on the exact same date 55 years earlier.
"The town was destroyed by fire 55 years ago to the day April 10, 1900," said Campbell.
After both disasters, the resilient townspeople rebuilt their community. But the coincidence hasn't been forgotten.
"This is part of my heritage. Part of what I grew up with. Part of what I know. Part of my history," said Campbell.
Today, Craig Woodward cherishes a charred relic found in the ruins of his father's business – four nickels melted together by the intense heat.
"You can make out the date on a few of them. One is 1938. The other one is 1941," said Woodward. "These are four nickels, and they have all melted together. That is how hot it got inside a fireproof safe."
Despite the devastation, Campbell sees the town's recovery as a blessing.
"Think of how blessed we were to have so many people come together and to save what was saved in both of these fires. We are not cursed. We are blessed," said Campbell.
Bowling Green, Virginia may be small, but it has a long history of rising from the ashes – not once, but twice.
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