Category Archives: Place of Worship

Place of Worship

Tracy, CA – Sprinkler system puts out fire at church

Tracy firefighters were sent to a church Monday afternoon after a small fire on a stairway set off a fire sprinkler and alarm. Battalion Chief Rick Doyle said they were originally sent to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1981 Chester Drive, to investigate a fire alarm that sounded shortly after 2 p.m.

The firefighters found a water sprinkler flowing and light smoke in the building. They called for additional fire engine crews to help find the source of the smoke. Doyle said a small fire on a stairway tripped the sprinkler, which extinguished the flames before the firefighters arrived. The water was turned off and crews searched the building but found no other fires. They remained for about an hour to help clear the water from the building.  The cause of the fire is under investigation, Doyle said. The cost of water damage caused by the sprinkler has not been calculated yet.

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Methuen, MA – Sprinkler system helps firefighters control suspicious church fire

Officials are investigating a two-alarm fire that damaged the Christian Church Voice of Salvation at 5 Pleasant St. late Sunday.

Deputy fire Chief Scott Sullivan said the blaze, reported at 10:22 p.m., is still under investigation but indicated he is “leaning toward arson.” 

The State Fire Marshal’s Office is involved in the probe and took samples for analysis, Sullivan said.

Investigators used an accelerant-sniffing dog to detect possible signs of arson. A sprinkler head controlled the fire long enough for a hose team to get into the building, which housed the Red Tavern for many years, Sullivan said.

The building has many void spaces and that makes firefighters nervous, the deputy chief said. The firefighters who responded to the fire did a good job of keeping the flames from spreading, he said.

The fire damaged a rug and some furniture, Sullivan said. The Haitian-American congregation will most likely not hold worship services there next Sunday, he said.

Salem, New Hampshire, and Lawrence crews assisted Methuen firefighters. The last unit left the scene at 2:24 a.m. Monday.

Place of Worship

Modesto, CA – Sprinkler system keeps arson fire at church from spreading

Treading carefully through standing water in the basement of Christ Unity Baptist Church on Tuesday afternoon, the Rev. Nathaniel Green and his wife, Dorothea, were pained by more than just the damage done in an act of arson and vandalism. They struggled to understand why.

The man suspected of breaking into the church on the 1300 block of L Street, 57-year-old Theodore Garcia, is someone they’ve cared for and employed, Nathaniel Green said. “He’s really worked for us,” the pastor said at his office desk. Behind him, a table was covered in broken glass from the window behind it. “He loves me and my wife, he loves this church.”

Green said he understands Garcia has battled drug addictions, and the pastor indicated he regrets that wages paid to him may have fed that addiction. He said he hasn’t spoken to Garcia but suspects that the man was despondent and suicidal. Garcia had knives with him, and bloody handprints (church staff believe he cut his hands breaking windows) were on at least two Bibles near the church altar.

“Isn’t it something, the power of what drugs can do?” Dorothea Green said as she surveyed fire damage, pried-open doors and other vandalism done throughout the basement. A couch was set on fire, as was clothing to be donated to the homeless. A fire in the dining hall damaged a table and carpeting. In all, the Greens believe five separate blazes were set. And the sprinkler system caused more damage, leaving water at least an inch deep throughout basement rooms and corridors.

The Rev. Green said the damage means the church’s homeless breakfasts and food giveaways will have to be put on hold. “I’m hoping we’ll be able to hold services,” he said. “We do have a few people with severe asthma,” he added, noting that smoke can be smelled throughout the church. The church also hosts several groups – including Narcotics Anonymous, children of alcoholics and families of inmates – that regularly meet in rooms, he said, that also will be temporarily affected.

The vandalism at the church came to light about 11:20 p.m. Monday when a sergeant and officer with Rank Investigation & Protection responded to a report of a subject breaking windows there. They encountered an uncooperative man who ran back inside the church and started a fire, according to a post on Rank’s Facebook page.

The Modesto Police and Fire departments were on scene within minutes, Rank reported. A Modesto Fire Department incident summary says light smoke was coming from the first and second floors of the southeast corner of the church. Crews determined a fire sprinkler was keeping the fires – in the basement level – from spreading. Police found the man on his hands and knees near the church altar, said Lt. Tom Ciccarelli. He was armed with knives and would not comply with commands from officers.

The department’s Critical Incident Team was activated to negotiate with the man, the lieutenant said. Talking with him was unsuccessful, Ciccarelli said. A bean bag round was fired at him, but had no effect.

At some point, the man – later identified Garcia – got up. When the knives were on the floor and he moved far enough away from them, officers were able to take him into custody, Ciccarelli said. Officers at the scene were unable to ascertain a motive, he said. The incident was concluded close to 2 a.m.

Garcia was medically cleared at the scene and booked into the Stanislaus County Jail. He is being held on charges of arson and vandalism, with bail at $200,000. The Rev. Green was dealing with his insurer Tuesday afternoon, but no financial estimate of church damage was immediately available.

Place of Worship

Chattanooga, TN – Sprinkler system limits spread of early morning church fire

Fire officials say a sprinkler system saved a local church from burning down this morning. Chattanooga firefighters, responding to an alarm around 4:30 a.m. at Silverdale Baptist Academy at 7236 Bonny Oaks Drive, found a small fire in a utility room, Lt. Joe Ervin said in a news release. The sprinkler system activated and extinguished the fire, saving the church, which is valued at $4 million, according to the news release. Water from the sprinkler heads was still flowing until firefighters were able to shut it off, leaving some significant water damage. No injuries were reported. Firefighters said the fire might have originated around a melted mop bucket in the utility room. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Place of Worship

Fort Wayne, IN – Sprinkler system saves church from significant damage in late evening fire

A small fire at Love Church on East Berry Street Wednesday night was largely put out by the building’s sprinkler system. Fort Wayne firefighters were dispatched shortly before 11 p.m. to 1331 East Berry Street, when the fire alarm activated.  Fire officials said the building’s fire suppression united put out most of the flames. Once firefighters got into the building they located a small fire in a storage area. Officials said a pile of items on the floor caught fire and put out a lot of smoke.  The fire was quickly contained by crews and the building was ventilated. Officials said had the sprinkler system not activated there could have been major damage to the church.  No one was inside at the time of the fire.  No injuries were reported.  It’s unclear how the fire started.

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Hartford, CT – Sprinkler system keeps fire in check at commercial building; No injuries reported

Several tenants are assessing damage on Sunday after a fire at a commercial building that housed a church in Hartford on Saturday night.

Firefighters say flames sparked around 10 p.m. on 806 Windsor Street in the Capitol City.

Officials are saying the sprinkler system helped to keep the fire in check.

According to the Hartford Courant, there were no injuries reported.

It is not clear what started the fire or how much damage the building sustained.

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Woburn, MA – Fire in multi-tenant commercial building controlled with help from sprinkler system

The cause of a 2-alarm fire on Sunday that resulted in extensive damage to a building on Green Street in the South End remains under investigation, Woburn Fire Chief Timothy Ring said this morning. The fire broke out in an office in a multi-tenant commercial building at 3 Green St., shortly after noon yesterday, while Blessed of the Lord Church was in session. Congregants apparently notified the Woburn Fire Dept. of the fire.  There were no injuries reported. Everyone managed to exit the church without incident, according to Ring.

The two other businesses in the building are RSK Marble & Granite and Woburn Bottle & Can recycling facility. Areas of the building sustained significant damage, Ring said.

“The fire got up into the roof, so we had to peel back the roof to get at it,” said Ring. “The fire also set off the sprinkler system, so there was a lot of water damage, as well as smoke and fire damage.”

Departments from Winchester, Stoneham, Medford and Arlington provided mutual aid at the scene. The fire was brought under control within about two hours, and crews cleared the scene by 5 p.m. on Sunday.

The State Fire Marshal’s office and the Woburn Fire Cause Determination Unit are conducting the investigation. Traffic along Green Street was disrupted while crews fought the fire.

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Bartlett, IL – Sprinkler system holds fire in check, protecting suburban landmark BAPS Cultural Center

A fire that started in a large commercial dryer at the BAPS Cultural Center in Bartlett last week was held in place by a sprinkler until fire crews arrived, preventing the possible loss of a suburban landmark, authorities say.

Occupants of the building at 1851 S. Route 59 were quickly notified to evacuate by the fire alarm system at 9:39 p.m. Jan. 3, Damage was limited to the dryer and smoke damage to the immediate area around it.”

The building where the fire occurred is very large and unique,” Bartlett Fire Protection District Fire Chief Michael Falese said. “Without a fire sprinkler system, this could have been a very significant fire with millions of dollars of damage and a loss of a landmark facility.”

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Battle Ground, WA – Fire at Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses contained by sprinkler system

Fire sprinklers likely saved a Battle Ground-area church from more extensive damage after a food dehydrator sparked a fire Sunday night in its attached garage.  Around 9:20 p.m., crews from Clark County Fire & Rescue were dispatched to the Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall north of Battle Ground, at 33209 N.E. Lewisville Highway, for a report of a structure fire.  Deputy Clark County Fire Marshal Curtis Eavenson said a fault in a food dehydrating device sparked a small fire in a garage attached to the church. The dehydrator appeared to be homemade.  The sprinkler system limited the damage to a roughly 3-square-foot area, causing about $4,000 to $5,000 in damage.  “The sprinkler system saved the day,” Eavenson said. “Once again, the value of fire sprinklers are very evident there.”  The dehydrator was being used to dry some fruit, he said.

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Seattle, WA – Church fire during worship service controlled by sprinkler system

As reported on West Seattle Blog (Statement from Rev. Leah Atkinson Bilinski to Fauntleroy Church congregation):

This morning, during our worship service, we experienced a small fire in our fourth floor library. The fire was accidentally caused by a child (who was not physically harmed, but who is quite emotionally upset). The sprinkler system worked as it should, and the fire was contained to a very small area within the library.

Water did soak walls and flooring on the fourth floor outside the library, office floor below (outside of offices), lobby, and one bathroom in the narthex as it came through the ceiling.

A big thank you to all of our volunteers who jumped right to work cleaning up what water we could before the professionals arrived this afternoon. Bless you, bless you, bless you!

Our annual meeting will be rescheduled and we will be in touch with that new date within the next few days. If pieces of Music Sunday are able to rescheduled, we’ll also let you know that.

The fire was small, and we are a strong, healthy church. All will be well!

As we rejoice in that wellness, let us remember to pray today for those who are not well, notably those involved in the horribly tragic loss of life in Orlando. Let us pray for those lost, their families, LGBTQ families everywhere and a world in which so much hate still exists and is allowed to fester.

And to those prayers, I ask a smaller, but special additional prayer — for one very scared child and her family today, who need to know us as their church family. Love is so powerful, and I thank God for a church that loves well and adds love to a world in such desperate need of it.