In the spring of 1906, a titanic earthquake shattered San Francisco and spawned a ferocious fire. The inferno raged for more than three days, incinerating most of the city, killing thousands of people, and driving hundreds of thousands from their homes. Unknown to each other at the time of the disaster, Fireman Leo Brown and Nurse Marianne Durand fought the flames and cared for the victims despite their personal losses: he a beloved uncle, she her dear husband and child. Despite her abiding grief, Marianne worked tirelessly for the ill and injured, including Leo, wounded while saving a church. As he was recovering under her care, they felt the exquisite strains of love growing between them but kept a respectful distance. After the calamity, Marianne suffered so much despair she teetered on the brink of oblivion, until Leo revealed to her a precious secret he had harbored throughout the horror.