Cause considered ‘suspicious’
Little is left standing after fire destroyed the former First Christian Church at 7th and Coolbaugh Streets Monday, Oct. 16.
Built in 1912, the building, which was also known as the Church of Christ, was currently owned by Lynn Adams after being vacated by its congregation many years ago.
Ritchie Cunningham, who was the first to report the fire to authorities, said he noticed something wrong shortly after arriving at his home for lunch.
“I smelled something burning, and at first I thought it was our burn pile. I then saw smoke, and I didn’t think that looked right. I followed the smoke, and when I got to the church, I saw it coming out from the roof, and then I started seeing more and more, and I knew there was a fire inside and I immediately called 9-1-1,” Cunningham said.
According to Cunningham, the fire grew in intensity shortly after the arrival of Red Oak Police officers and Red Oak firefighters.
“I think it must have been smoldering for quite a while, because as soon as a police officer and a fireman opened the front door, it just went crazy, and 15 minutes later the whole thing was engulfed,” Cunningham saidd.
The fire’s intensity, Cunning-ham said, made him fearful the flames would spread to other homes in the area, including his own.
“I had some concerns, especially when I saw a smaller tree across the street catch fire three plots away. I walked around several times to make sure no embers reached my house and the houses of my neighbors. But the Red Oak firefighters, and the firefighters from the neighboring communities did a fantastic job of containing it. I was impressed.”
Suspicious cause
Red Oak Fire Chief John Bruce said that while the cause of the fire is yet to be determined, it has been classified as suspicious.
“We have a building that has been vacant a number of years with no utilities to it. That within itself definitely leads to towards a suspicious fire. It should not have occurred. As to what exactly caused it, that we do not know that at this time. We’ve had a few people call in and have had video and photographs submitted. At this point it’s under investigation by our department, the State Fire Marshal’s Office, and Red Oak Police. These investigations can take some time. Right now we’re reviewing the evidence and we can bring it to a resolution quickly. You always hope for that in cases like this,” commented Bruce.
Dangerous situation
Cunningham added he and his wife loved the church’s architecture and were sad to see it destroyed.
“The visuals of the church were my wife’s favorite, and we could see it from our window. Will Brown, the former pastor of the church, said his congregation had to move because some of the repairs weren’t holding and it was too expensive to maintain. I’m sorry to see it go.” commented Cunningham.
Red Oak Fire Chief John Bruce said the fire proved problematic for fire crews who were planning on battling the blaze from the interior.
“When they breached the front doors, there was heavy fire involvement in the interior, and they had to go to a defensive fire/ground operation where we fight the fire from the outside of the building, and that’s what took place for the remainder of the night.
With the massive size of the fire, the defensive fire operation was also used to protect surrounding structures.
“There’s a large church to the northwest of the building. West was a two-story apartment building, and a house directly west of the church, so they had to go to work really quick to make sure they were going to keep it contained there. That’s also why we brought in the Shenandoah and Clarinda aerial, because it takes a massive amount of water. I believe our water department said we used around 600,000 gallons of water on the fire,” Bruce advised.
Thankfully, the fire was contained to the single structure, which Bruce credits to the efforts of emergency personnel.
“I’ve got to give credit. They had to get things set up very quickly, and for them to keep the fire contained just to that structure is miraculous, and goes to show you the outstanding teamwork of the folks we have that do this stuff. We had all the fire departments in the county, and departments outside of the county participating in fighting this fire. They know how to go right to work and work with each other. It’s seamless. Citizens and food vendors brought food and water up to the firefighters while we were on the scene, and that further goes to show the great support of the community we have here,” commented Bruce.
During the fire, the church’s roof and a wall collapsed. While the rest of the structure remained standing, it was demolished Tuesday, Oct. 17, due to safety concerns.
“We had to utilize an excavator to bring the walls in. They were bowing, and we were running the risk of them collapsing in. There was also a large chimney on the north side. If it had fallen to the north, it would have compromised power lines. For the safety of the public, it was deemed necessary to demolish them,” said Bruce.
Due to the condition of the structure after the fire was brought under control, the investigation inside the building had to be done remotely.
“We were able to use the drone from the Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency to get us pictures and video around the fire scene where it was obviously unsafe to physically put the fire investigators in to aid in the investigation. It’s a wonderful tool and allowed us to not have to jeopardize the safety of any of the investigators,” Bruce said.
Bruce added he believes this was probably the largest structure fire he’s faced in his career. Bruce said thankfully there were no injuries, and he complimented all the area departments that assisted Red Oak in battling the blaze.
‘We have a really great partnership with all the area departments. They take care of us and I hope they feel like we take care of them. We also had law enforcement helping us drag hose, conduct interviews, and handle traffic control. I was also in contact with our water superintendent making sure we didn’t compromise the city’s water system. The community came out to support us as well,” advised Bruce.