Congregation sifts through ashes after Hardin Co. church fire
[gtxvideo vid=”a42cFDLM” playlist=”” pid=”OTSe9U1y” thumb=”http://player.gtxcel.com/thumbs/a42cFDLM.jpg” vtitle=”Savannah Church Fire PKG”]
HARDIN COUNTY, Tenn. — A small, rural West Tennessee church burns to the ground overnight, the blaze not seen by anyone. But as investigators continue to determine a cause, the congregation is already looking to the future. “When I pulled up this morning and saw everything gone, it was just devastating,” Pastor Kevin Smith of Ward’s Apostolic Church said. Fire officials said Ward’s Apostolic Church and its adjacent hall burned in the dead of night, not seen until Wednesday morning when it was too late. “There were some passerbys that drove by and saw it around 10 p.m. Tuesday night on their way to work and didn’t notice anything,” Hardin County Fire Chief Melvin Martin said. “We think it happened sometime after midnight.” Investigators said they believe one of the buildings caught on fire first. But because they were so close together and the heat from the first fire was so intense it caught them both on fire, quickly burning both to the ground. “It’s just very unfortunate that this is in such a rural area and that no one saw it in time,” Chief Martin said. Now left to pick up the pieces, the 25-member church was hand-in-hand Wednesday night, pushing through together. “I know we’re going to build back,” Smith said. “I just appreciate everyone coming out and supporting the situation. It’s a bad situation, but if we just stick together we’ll get through it.” As the ash still burns around the historic sanctuary, its members said although a lot has been lost its reach will live on forever “We have a lot of memories here,” Smith said. “But song books, Bibles and stuff like that might be lost, but the memories are still there.” The Hardin County Fire Department said it currently doesn’t believe the fire is suspicious. State Bomb and Arson investigators as well as the ATF will be on scene Thursday morning to help with the investigation.
