Until about four in the afternoon on a particular Sunday, the residents of three closely situated towns are gathered on a hill, watching the massive fire that has sprung from an oil tank on a local oil farm. Earlier that day, lightning had struck the tank, but the townspeople had been spectating the fire in awe due to the lack of wind. However, their calm enjoyment of the flames dulls as the oil tank caves in. An explosion follows, sending swathes of fire spreading onto buildings and oil leaking into the nearby bay. The townspeople begin panicking. By ten at night, a second oil tank has caught fire. By eleven, the gasoline drums have started exploding.

That Sunday morning had been especially peculiar because of the lightning, which is rare in this region. The lightning had sparked excitement in the Meriweather household, which housed an elderly couple and the young biology student they looked after. Mr. Meriweather, a longtime caretaker of his beloved but ill wife, and the student had been studying the landscape when the fire was first caught. While only Mr. Merriweather and the student were engrossed in the fire initially, Mrs. Meriweather is now interested. Together, they venture out toward the flames despite Mrs. Meriweather’s doctor warning her not to walk. Through the carnage, the three eventually arrive at an intersection guarded by soldiers. A crowd has gathered to hear the ravings of a woman holding a crucifix. She yells at them to repent immediately, believing the fires are harbingers of Jesus’ second coming. Although there is still no wind to escalate the fires, the woman’s promises of devastation cause panic amongst the onlookers.

Mrs. Meriweather, though plagued by illness for thirty years, summons her strength at the sound of the woman’s incessant fearmongering and calls out to the watchers to not be afraid. Her argument that Christ is a good, friendly being conflicts with the woman’s portrayal of Him being a relentless punisher. They argue back and forth for hours, with Mrs. Meriweather shooting down the woman’s claims that the wind will come and spread the fire. The student tells Mr. Meriweather that his wife might die from exerting too much energy, but the man watches his wife with pride. Through tears, he offers her support, but she keeps fighting. Finally, after a tumultuous night, day breaks. The fearmongering woman’s claims of a second coming leave with the night, and members of the crowd kiss Mrs. Meriweather’s hand to thank her for the hope and comfort she gave them. Though the fires still burn, she assures them the wind will not rise. She collapses into the arms of her husband and the student. In her home, lying on her bed, she muses that her good Christ is still fighting and dies. The student believes that although she has died, her memory will live on in the people she consoled the night before.