The Pacific Press Fire

Friday night a vision was given to her that she did not at first understand. But Sabbath morning just before going onto the platform—for she was to preach that day—word reached the campground that a fire at Pacific Press in Mountain View had destroyed the entire plant. The first flames were seen at about midnight. The cause of the fire, which apparently had started in the photo-engraving department, was never ascertained. The plans for the Sabbath-morning service in Oakland remained unchanged, but it was a solemn audience that listened to the messenger of the Lord that morning. When the announcement of the Pacific Press fire was made from the desk, many in the audience thought of the Review and Herald fire four years before. They remembered the warnings given and of how after the fire it was generally conceded among Adventists that the catastrophe was a judgment from God. Ellen White had stated this time after time.6BIO 106.5

What would she say when she stood in the desk to address the waiting audience?6BIO 107.1

The stenographic report of the Sabbath-morning meeting makes no mention of the fire. She spoke on “Love Toward God and Man.” Basing her address on the story of the good Samaritan as recorded in Luke 10:25-37,she drove home the importance of compassion, tenderness, and love. “The Lord permits suffering and calamity to come upon men and women,” she declared, “to call us out of our selfishness, to awaken in us the attributes of His character.”—Manuscript 109, 1906 (The Review and Herald, September 13, 1906Ibid., September 20, 1906).6BIO 107.2