Morinville Baptist Church now stands as a pile of rubble after an early-morning blaze Saturday completely destroyed the structure.
Fire crews were called to the church at 431 Grandin Drive at roughly 5:30 a.m. Saturday after reports came in about smoke filling the air.
“Upon arrival, there was pretty heavy smoke showing,” said Herb Pearce, senior captain with Morinville Fire Department. “Unfortunately, the building is destroyed. The roof has caved in, so it’s a loss.”
The cause and origin of the fire is not yet known, Pearce said, adding an investigation is expected to start Sunday and could last several days.
“Generally what happens is we have to cool the entire area down before inspectors can actually go into the rubble and try to determine (the cause),” he said.
The Legal Fire Department was called in to assist the Morinville department with fighting the blaze and firefighters remained on scene Saturday afternoon putting out hotspots.
A few surrounding homes were evacuated and blanketed with water to prevent radiant heat and sparks from igniting surrounding structures.
No one was inside the building at the time of the blaze and no injuries were reported, Pearce said. Damage is estimated at roughly $1 million.
Bill Wicks, pastor at the church, spent most of Saturday on scene watching firefighters demolish the church.
“It’s sad,” he said. “But the question is what good things we can learn from it and how we can benefit from a loss of a building like we have.”
He said the fire will not stop the church from meeting, adding the Sunday service is being relocated to a local member’s home about a block from the site.
“We think of the church as being the people, not the building,” he said.
Wicks said there is no reason why the church wouldn’t rebuild, but said plans will be discussed in the coming days.
Howard Killick, elder, said a few photo albums, books and a plaque were recovered from the building.
“You don’t want to see something destroyed before your eyes that you’ve spent … several thousand hours building,” he said. “We’re sorry to see it go.”
He said, however, the churchgoers are more important than the church and the congregation will recover.
