Fire-ravaged North Preston church ‘centre of our life,’ community says

Members of the Saint Thomas United Baptist Church say they’re going to “pray harder” and are asking for prayers after a fire ripped through the top floors of the building.

“[I’m] very sad this morning to hear that bad news about our church because that’s home away from home,” said Lola Downey. “Now we got to pray more harder.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "[I'm] very sad this morning to hear that bad news about our church because that's home away from home," said Lola Downey. "Now we got to pray more harder."

Firefighters were called to the church – located on Simmonds Road – shortly after 9:30 a.m.

Division commander Kevin Dean said the fire was in the back of the building in a crawlspace which made it difficult to find it, but it was eventually found and put out.

Dean said there is significant damage, but the building is “salvageable.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s extensive, but it is quite a bit of damage,” Dean said.

Mazie Simmonds told Global News the damage to the church is difficult to see.

“We don’t have a church to attend,” Simmonds said. “It’s the centre of our life.

“This is the place we go for healing, this is our healing spot here. This spot here, this is where we go to be healed,” she said.

“It’s just like someone died in the family,” said Vivian Cain.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's just like someone died in the family," said Vivian Cain.

Dean said because of where the fire was, crews had to pull out walls, sidings and other pieces to get to the fire. He said there is some smoke, water and and fire damage to the back side.

He said putting the fire out was difficult.

“There was some construction that was done. One wall was built after another wall so the fire was actually in between a false wall and that’s where the difficulty arose, trying to get into that space,” Dean said.

Crews from five different stations were brought in and as of about 11:45 a.m. there were about 24 members on scene, according to Dean.

The cause of the fire and where it started is still under investigation. Dean said the fire is not believed to be suspicious.

– With files from Steve Silva, Global News