NILES — Resident Tim Fletcher said he knows how the Wicked Witch of the West felt when she melted in “The Wizard of Oz.”

On the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, 1972, Tim Fletcher was flown by plane to a hospital’s burn unit after crashing his motorcycle. Exactly 47 years later, within the hour of the accident, his book on his experience was published.

Fletcher was not expecting “Scarred for Life!: Finding Abundant Life Through Understanding Our Scars” to be published at that moment in time, but his wish to write a book on his six months in a burn unit has spanned over four decades.

“It talks about how, really, my life has been shaped by my scars,” he said.

From 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Fletcher is signing books and speaking of his experience at the Niles District Library.

In 1972, Fletcher was riding his motorcycle past what is now Wonderland Cinema, momentarily looking away from the road. When he glanced back, the Niles High School incoming senior saw himself running into a vehicle.

The crash popped the motorcycle’s cap off, soaking Fletcher in gasoline. The heat from the crash lit him on fire.

Two men rushed to the scene and got Fletcher, still responsive, out of the wreck. He was eventually flown by a refrigeration airplane to an Ann Arbor hospital’s burn victim unit.

Fletcher stayed there for exactly six months. When he arrived, 87 percent of his body was covered in third-degree burns. When treatment finished, he had 13 surgeries.

Days before the crash, Fletcher had traded class rings with his girlfriend, Debbie. He was just going steady with her, he said.

Now, the high school sweethearts are married with children and grandchildren. Shortly after Fletcher’s recovery, both wanted to write a book on his experience.

Fletcher, now 63, said he is glad he waited.

“I never could figure out the ‘why.’  Why did I survive?” he said. “I’ve realized three, four years ago that I. couldn’t write the book until I had lived.”

Outside of his everyday job, Fletcher has also been a pastor, worked with campgrounds and been a member of the Southwestern Community Ambulance Service. He has taken up fishing and travel, and he loves writing and speaking.

Now, though, Fletcher is promoting his book. He said he thinks it is connective to many others’ experiences.

“It talks about how God has used that [event] in my life really to just share with all kinds of people that have scars,” he said. “Anybody who has lived any amount of time has racked up a few scars.”

He hopes the book can provide solace to those with scars, whether physical, mental or emotional.

“I can help them to gain some peace and relief from the pain of that by empathizing with them,” he said. “I’m hoping that people find some peace from the scars, the things that they’re carrying in their life.”

The book has offered Fletcher solace as well. Before and while writing the book, thinking back on the events that took place during the accident and in a burn unit was difficult. Writing invoked memories he forgot or had pushed away.

With the book written, though, he said the memories are easier to think about. The book has allowed him to get what he wanted to share with others at times on paper.

“It gives me the opportunity to say, ‘You know, I’m scarred, too,’” he said “While the scars are very prevalent on the outside, there’s also scars on the inside.”

Fletcher plans to continue writing. He has a series of lighthearted short stories on the way and another book planned afterward. He also hopes to speak about his life experiences on a more public platform that a place like Facebook, he said.

“Once I got going, we finished it in about 18 months,” Fletcher said on his book, published by Xulon Press. “I really enjoyed the process of writing the book.”