‘We are grateful to God and to you’: Wakefield church shares statement after fire destroys historic sanctuary
Authorities say a lightning strike likely ignited the blaze that ripped through the nearly 150-year-old building.
Officials at the historic Wakefield church that was consumed by a seven-alarm fire on Tuesday night say they are moving “into the future with trust, hope, and gratitude.”“We are grateful to God and to you,” a statement on the First Baptist Church of Wakefield’s website reads. “While we lost our historic building from a lightning strike this week, we praise Jesus that our church community was kept safe. A very big thank you to the many firefighters who did their jobs with excellence, and to the outpouring of support from the community.”The Wakefield Fire Department received an automatic alert of a fire in progress from the church at 8 Lafayette St. around 7 p.m. on Tuesday, the department said in a statement. Firefighters arriving on the scene a minute later saw flames showing at the front of the church near the steeple. A group that had been meeting in the church at the time exited safely before the department arrived.“Shortly thereafter, the fire broke out and extended the full length of the 150-foot steeple, moving to the front of the church, all the way to the back,” the fire department said. The fire eventually reached seven alarms as it engulfed the landmark building. More than 100 firefighters from about two dozen departments responded to battle the blaze, which burned for roughly three hours and caused more than a million dollars in damage to the nearly 150-year-old building.“The church has been deemed a total loss,” the fire department said.
— Karen Marshall (@KarenTypesWords) October 23, 2018
— Karen Marshall (@KarenTypesWords) October 23, 2018
Three firefighters were treated for injuries at the scene that were considered not life-threatening.
“Steeple fires are extremely hard to extinguish given their design and location on churches,” Wakefield Fire Chief Michael Sullivan said in a statement. “This fire was throwing off a tremendous amount of heat and required an immense amount of resources to knock down. Firefighters did a tremendous job making an aggressive attack, and I want to thank our neighboring communities for their assistance throughout the night.”
While the cause of the fire remains under investigation, Sullivan said he believes a lightning strike likely started the devastating blaze.
At the scene of the First Baptist Church fire in #Wakefield. A crane begins to take down the charred remains of the steeple. pic.twitter.com/v4uq7RVF5o
— Bernice Freedman (@BerniceNews) October 24, 2018
Light of day reveals the devastation caused by fire at a 150y/o church in #Wakefield. All that’s left is a shell. #wcvb pic.twitter.com/SqQTCsxywp
— Sera Congi (@seracongi) October 24, 2018
A GoFundMe fundraiser has been started to support the First Baptist Church.
“Yes, the former ‘Tall Spire’ building is a skeleton of what it once was, but the church is still alive and working in our community,” organizer Emily Brown wrote on the page. “The building itself has also been home to the Tall Spire nursery school as well as host to other various groups over the years. Please support our church as we continue to worship, teach, learn, serve, love, and grow in our community.”
“We know that we serve a God who specializes in restoring brokenness and who can bring beauty even from ashes,” church officials wrote. “So we move into the future with trust, hope, and gratitude.”
