CHRISTMAS
Answering the Christmas bell As flames engulfed a nearby building, residents fled and sought shelter at the Hempstead, N.Y., corps as the Christmas morning service came to a close. by ROBERT MITCHELL Illustrations by JOE MARINO
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irens filled the air just as morning Christmas service at The Salvation Army in Hempstead, N.Y., was concluding. Ruth Hepburn, sitting in back near the church doors, hoped the sound would fade, a sign that the emergency was somewhere else. “But the sirens didn’t go away,” Hepburn recalls. “They kept getting louder. Then I saw people running and I went out to see what was happening.” Hepburn, the church’s official welcomer, saw fire trucks arriving and the ensuing commotion. Right across the street, an apartment building was on fire. Residents were fleeing into the bitter cold, some dressed only in pajamas, shorts, and T–shirts. “It was so cold, people just couldn’t stay outside,” remembers Major Young Sung Kim, who co–pastors the church. “We had to do something.” One of the fire victims seeking refuge was Nicole Padmore, who lived on the fourth floor. She had opened her apartment door to see heavy smoke billowing down the hall. She quickly snatched her 11–year–old daughter, Zoe, who was wearing only sleep shorts and a tee. “I grabbed my daughter and ran down the four flights of stairs to get out of the building,” Padmore remembers. “The smoke was so thick, she almost passed out.” Displaced residents lined the sidewalk and hoped help would arrive. It soon came from The Salvation Army. Major Young urged people to come into the warmth of The Salvation Army chapel and gym. About 80 residents would
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