Other Business, Place of Worship Lincoln, NE – Fire in church kitchen limited by sprinkler system April 28, 2016 viking210 A Lincoln church is once again picking up the pieces after a three-alarm blaze damaged part of its new building. But Tuesday’s fire wasn’t as devastating as the one nine years ago that consumed Zion Church. “Honestly, it seems ridiculously surreal,” the Rev. Stu Kerns said. “There’s just no other word for it.” A fire in an oven in the kitchen of the old church near downtown Lincoln gutted the entire structure in 2007. “As soon as it came in it was like, incredible, what bad luck for these folks, you know? Your heart goes out to them,” Fire Battalion Chief Jim Bopp said. Kerns said they are thankful that no one was hurt in Tuesday’s fire or the one nine years ago. A sprinkler system confined the damage on Tuesday mostly to the kitchen area. The worship hall and a new 7,000-square-foot expansion area were undamaged. “It worked perfectly,” Kerns said. “The fire doors closed, the sprinklers went off. He shakes us up to make us focus in on what’s real and true and important. I’m going to look at that as a gift. It doesn’t feel like a gift right now, but I’m going to look on that as a gift.”
