As discussed nearby under Helaman 5:23, the original text had quite a few instances of as if. Here in Helaman 5:44, an original if was accidentally omitted when the 1840 edition was typeset. The RLDS textual tradition maintained this secondary reading (“they were as in the midst of a flaming fire”) until the 1908 RLDS edition. As discussed under Helaman 5:23, instances of as without the if can be found in the original text as well. For each case, we let the earliest textual sources determine the correct reading, as if or as.
Summary: Maintain the original occurrence of as if in Helaman 5:44: “they were as if in the midst of a flaming fire”.