I've been a Search and Rescue worker for 12 years. I know every possible way that a fire can kill you. I've seen my fair share of corpses, too. But what I saw last week was beyond anything I could have imagined.

I've seen over 300 dead bodies in my line of work. The most common cause of death among them is smoke inhalation, followed by burns, and then asphyxiation (some fires are so massive that they suck up all the oxygen, leaving a person to suffocate. Sometimes they don't even get to realize that they're dying).<br><br>I've seen corpses so charred that I couldn't tell the gender. Some that have been so badly burned that they had to be identified using dental records. One that was buried under a pile of debris, which caused it to decompose completely and turn into liquid.<br><br>But what I saw last week was beyond anything I could have imagined.<br><br>It was a typical rescue mission for the most part, at least in the beginning. We received a report that a local house was burning down. The parents were at work, but their two daughters (-Barbara, 11, and Michelle, 8-), were at home. The parents were contacted by phone and they said that they'd be there soon.<br><br>We arrived at the house in three vehicles, which was pretty much the entire Search and Rescue team. The fire was getting smaller and smaller with each passing minute. When we went inside, we found no signs of either girl. The fire hadn't been too big to begin with. In fact, it was confined to just one room.<br><br>The chief called our names one by one and assigned us areas to search in. I was assigned to one of the bedrooms, and I found Michelle there, huddled up in a corner and sobbing. I don't know how she managed to escape the fire, but she seemed safe and sound. I reported this to the chief and he said that he'd send an ambulance to get her. Meanwhile, I had to keep searching for Barbara.<br><br>I went through the entire house, calling her name out at intervals. She didn't reply. I started getting worried that she may have died in there. Suddenly, I heard a noise from outside, which made me rush to the stairs. Halfway down, I bumped into chief Hollen and we both fell to the ground. The chief got up, dusting himself off, and I asked what he was doing.<br><br>"Barbara," he said. "She was in the attic. I was trying to carry her down."<br><br>That was when I finally saw her. She was standing at the bottom of the stairs, behind chief Hollen.<br><br>She was burned beyond recognition. Her clothes were smoldering and she had no hair. Her face was blackened, and her skin was cracked. I knew that she was in a lot of pain when I saw her take a breath and wince. I was sure that she would die soon.<br><br>But none of that was what made her look so horrifying. What really creeped me out was that she was grinning. Her teeth were all that was left of her face that was recognizable. Her smile stretched across her face and seemed to grow bigger with each passing second. She didn't look like a girl who was in agony. She looked like a girl who had won the jackpot.<br><br>"She keeps saying something," the chief said. "I wasn't quite able to make it out."<br><br>Barbara took a step forward, wincing again, and said "I'm complete."<br><br>"I think she's asking for her sister," I said.<br><br>"No," she said, taking another step forward. "I'm complete. And nothing can burn a person who is complete."<br><br>We both stared as she slowly made her way down the stairs, taking the most painful-looking steps I had ever seen.<br><br>"I think she needs an ambulance," the chief said.<br><br>But I couldn't take my eyes off of her. There was something about her that I couldn't quite pinpoint at the time. She seemed too happy to be a girl whose parents had left her home alone and hadn't even bothered to make sure that her sister was with her. Too happy to be a girl whose house had burned down. Too happy to be a girl who was in so much pain.<br><br>As I looked closer and I finally figured out what it was: I had never seen someone with burns as bad as hers before.