A fire at Buena Vista Baptist Church last week has forced the church to find another place to hold services for the next few weeks.
The fire broke out in a choir rehearsal room on the second story of the church’s educational wing overnight on Aug. 19.
Pastor Blake Reese said firefighters believe the fire originated in a heating and air-conditioning unit early in the morning when no one was there.
Reese said he had just sat down at his desk around 9:30 a.m. Thursday when two women that were at the church to clean up found the damage. By that point, the flames had gone out on their own.
“We had some ladies come in to clean up and get things ready for Sunday, and they said, ‘Smells like smoke in here.’ That’s when we saw black soot all over everything,” Reese said.
Reese said he called 911. Reese said it’s unclear if the church’s fire alarm went off because the fire broke out around 5 a.m.
On Thursday morning, emergency vehicles were lined up on Chestnut Avenue as firefighters cleared the building and strung up caution tape. The doors were opened to help air the building out. Buena Vista Fire Chief John Rowsey said the air quality inside the building was still not safe enough for people to go inside.
Reese said it’s lucky that the fire didn’t spread any farther.
“We’re blessed to have a cinderblock building,” Reese said.
Blake said people are working to clean up soot and smoke damage throughout the building and church officials are waiting for the insurance company to assess the damage. In the meantime, church services will be held elsewhere.
On Sunday morning, services were held on the lawn outside. Reese told the congregation that despite the fire, they are blessed.
“I feel like I’m just flying by the seat of my pants,” Reese said. “Sometimes that’s when God does the best stuff. He says he’s going to shine through during our worst moments, and he’s shining through right now.”
Reese said there is still no timeline as to when services will be held in the church again and for now, they are still trying to determine where to have services in the coming weeks.
“We’ve had lots of people reach out and say that they would be happy to help us and we could use their space,” Reese said.
Firefighters are working to determine the cause of the blaze.
