There was a fire this weekend at a Greek Orthodox church in Knoxville, Tenn. The church was seriously damaged. The icon above survived without damage, even though the fire was so hot it melted the glass in the frame. Amazing, innit?

(H/T: Frederica Mathewes-Green)

UPDATE: Well, maybe not so amazing. Reader MH writes:

Glass melts at temperatures above 1000 °F, so if it is glass that’s pretty amazing.

But that covering looks like a plastic to me. When glass melts it flows downwards, while melting plastic shrinks and can flow upwards like it did at the bottom of the frame.

Also, plastics melt at 248 to 356 °F, while wood and paper combust at around 450 °F, so the damage is consistent with it being a plastic like acrylic.