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TwitThisA Hand on the Shoulder
By Dave BergWas he dreaming? David Ewart saw a red ball of fire. He shot out of a deep sleep and heard his ten-year-old daughter, Heather, screaming. Then he felt the heat -- like lethal radiation from a blast furnace. Ewart bolted out of bed on the second floor of his home. Downstairs he heard loud popping noises. Glass bulbs, furniture, appliances exploding as fire consumed them.
Three hundred and fifty people, friends and family, had attended Ewart's annual Christmas party at his home in Valencia, California. David was a giver. He'd coached youth baseball and soccer teams, played his violin for any teacher who asked, and had taken music to the jungles of Peru for his church. Music was always the centerpiece of the festivities, as it was of David's life. A renowned violinist, he has played on film scores for such composers as John Williams and Randy Newman. That night, as always, he played his Stradivarius-era violin while his guests sang "Silent Night."
After the party, he and his 77-year-old mother, Esther, put out the candles -- all but one, overlooked and left burning on a holiday paper tablecloth.
Now, as Ewart started down the hall to alert his parents and three children, he said a silent prayer: God, if it is your will, save us. The heat was hellish. But then he felt a hand on his shoulder -- and something that was not quite a voice guiding him, giving him direction: the bedroom window.
He kicked out the window screen and told Heather to jump onto the patio cover, crawl to the edge and drop to the ground, ten feet below.
Next he headed for his two sons, Jonathan, 13, and Michael, 15, who were screaming with pain. The air in their room was superhot, and every breath felt like liquid fire. David led Jonathan to the window.
He returned for Michael, who was now helping his grandparents, trapped in their room behind a jammed door. Michael threw himself against it and finally burst through. David guided his mother, then Michael, to safety.
Only his father remained. The 81-year-old's face was badly burned. He lost his footing and fell. David took his hand and helped him to the window. Too weak to hold on, his father rolled off the patio cover to the ground.
Finally, David escaped. Seconds later, the second floor exploded. Yet all the while, he felt he was being led, under protection.
The family survived, though David and Michael suffered extensive third-degree burns. They were placed in induced comas and swaddled in burn bandages. For weeks, it wasn't certain they would live. But Ewart's many friends in church and the community organized fund-raisers and blood drives. Jay Leno staged a benefit performance. It took weeks of skin grafts before they were released, and months of physical therapy followed.
Many angels came to the Ewarts' aid. But that first one? Was it a dream? Firefighters say they are mystified as to how the family survived. David Ewart is not.
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