The blaze was quickly put out and damage to the building was limited.
Montreal police spokesperson Manuel Couture said the fire started just inside the front door of the business.
When firefighters arrived at the scene, they noticed that the glass door was shattered, raising the possibility the blaze was intentionally set.
Lucas also tweeted out a photo of the services saying, “Racist Vandals and arsonists not slowing down 8 a.m. service @concordhope church.”
Kansas City police were called to the church shortly before 7 a.m. Federal investigators think the break-in occurred between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. and that whoever committed the break-in also made the graffiti.
If the investigation shows that the vandalism of the church was a hate crime, the FBI will get involved, said Ham, the ATF spokesman. But, he said, the hate crime designation depends on the motive and the true motive behind the damage to the church is unclear.
The fire was very small and did not appear likely to cause much damage, Ham said. Investigators suspect the incident began as a break-in, and the fire could have been meant to cover that up.
“To our fire investigators that are on the scene, it looks to us like a fire that somebody started sort of with what they had available to cover up perhaps the break-in,” Ham said. “It did not really have much to work with from a fire perspective. The sprinkler system in the office where it was set did its job, knocked the fire out very, very quickly.”
More damage was caused by water from the sprinkler system.
Fires at places of worship happen less frequently than they used to, Ham said, but have historically posed a potent threat because churches are often the focal point of a community.
“An attack on a church or an attack on a congregation is really an attack on everyone,” Ham said.
Investigators have not identified any suspects and are hoping to find surveillance video that could help. However, it’s unclear if all the security cameras in the church were working properly at the time of the break-in.
The ATF is offering a $5,000 reward for information about the incident. Anyone with information can call the ATF at 1-888-283-3473.
Concord Fortress of Hope Church is at 11050 Longview Parkway.
“It’s kind of a remote area, so if you were driving by early this morning or late last night and you saw something happening here, it probably wasn’t supposed to be,” Ham said. “Every little piece of information helps us.”
In a phone interview later, Councilman Lucas said he saw the graffiti as he arrived to attend services Sunday.
“It’s heartbreaking. It’s a little disappointing to see something liked that in 2017. Folks should be able to come and worship without that sort of concern,” Lucas said. “We’ll keep praying and stay hopeful that this is the last time we have to see something like this with this church and that nobody else has to deal with it.”
Lucas said Pastor Ronald Lindsay said it well during the service when he told church members that they were not letting something negative define them.
“It ended up being an absolutely beautiful service,” Lucas said. “It reminded us how God exists in chaos and how we will basically continue on with the mission of the church.”
The church was founded in February 1987 when the Palestine Missionary Baptist Church of Jesus Christ voted for Concord Missionary Baptist Church of Jesus Christ to become an official organized church. The Rev. Ronald R. Lindsay was installed as the pastor, according to the church’s website.
After beginning at the YMCA at 63rd Street and Wornall Road, the church moved south to 107th Street in the Ruskin/Hickman Mills area. In 2006, the growing congregation moved to its current location.
Deputy State Fire Marshals were requested to conduct an investigation and determined the fire was intentionally set.
Investigators later discovered a second, self-extinguished fire within another closet within the home, according to the notice.
Investigators estimated the home sustained about $20,000 in damages.
After consulting with the Harford County States Attorney’s Office, deputy state fire marshals issued an arrest warrant for Stewart, who turned herself in Monday to the Bel Air Barrack of the Maryland State Police.
Stewart is charged with first- and second-degree arson, first- and second-degree malicious burning and vandalism more than $1,000.
Stewart is being held at Harford County Detention Center on $50,000 bail.
Investigators said Lamberson was carrying a white cloth when he walked into the bathroom, but was not carrying it when he walked out. The video also allegedly showed Lamberson carry a blanket into the bathroom, returns saying, “It’s still going, I don’t need to put that up there,” according to the probable cause affidavit.
A short time later, Lamberson returned to the bathroom with the blanket and left without the blanket, according to the probable cause affidavit. A short time later, an employee discovers the fire in the ceiling. Lamberson and Carney are each charged with one count of arson.
For the second straight day, in much a similar way, a bathroom was burned by an arsonist in Juneau.
The fire came less than 24 hours after an as-yet-unidentified arsonist set a fire in a Thunder Mountain High School bathroom.
Katie Bausler, a spokeswoman for the hospital, said a man identified as Arlo Bradstreet set a small fire in a bathroom trash can. The fire melted the trash can and was sufficiently hot to trigger the bathroom’s sprinkler system.
According to court records online, Bradstreet has been charged with second-degree arson, a class B felony. He is scheduled to be arraigned on those charges at 1:15 p.m. today at Dimond Courthouse.
Two patients and 15 staff were working in the hospital’s emergency department at the time: All were exposed to smoke, but none sought medical attention, Bausler said.
Quinto said a triage nurse in the emergency department reported hearing a loud boom and feeling the room shake as the fire took place. It is yet not clear what, if anything, exploded during the fire.
Bausler said the noise and shaking may have been caused by the sheer force of the sprinkler system starting.
“The sprinklers really did their job,” Bausler said, adding that an inch of water covered the floor of the emergency department’s waiting room before cleanup began.
When the Empire visited the hospital Wednesday morning, there was little sign of damage and more sign — literally — of cleanup. “Wet floor” signs were scattered around the waiting room near floor fans attempting to dry the scene.
Bartlett said she cannot recall any similar arsons at Juneau high schools. Quinto said he remembers a fire in the girls’ bathroom in the same wing a few years ago. According to Empire records, a small fire scorched Thunder Mountain’s turf field in 2011. A more serious arson burned the turf at Adair-Kennedy Memorial Park in 2012.
Quinto added that while Thunder Mountain has cameras covering its entrances and common areas, there are no cameras in the hallway outside the bathroom.
A 2-alarm fire at a Salvation Army facility in Gilroy destroyed $5,000 worth of donations.
Flames spread through a trailer filled with donations.
Workers at the Salvation Army said the trailer has been broken into several times before at night, and the thieves use candles to light their way through darkness.
Workers suspect a thief’s candle sparked the fire.
The Gilroy Fire Department wrote on Facebook, “Crews responded to the Salvation Army store on Camino Arroyo, where they found a 53 (foot) trailer on fire up against the loading dock. The fire extended into the building but was held in check by the sprinkler system.”
Resident Melissa Ditonto says the alarm loudly alerted everyone to the fire and many people evacuated.
Police say the building’s sprinkler system quickly doused the flames. No one was injured.
