Church destroyed by fire near Baton Rouge
Published 12:37 am Monday, November 12, 2007
ALSEN, La. (AP) — Authorities were trying to determine Sunday what sparked a fire that totally destroyed the New Prospect Baptist Church between Baker and Alsen near Baton Rouge.
Damage to the one-story brick building, which caught fire Saturday, totaled about $100,000, said Alsen Fire Chief Charleston O’Connor.
No one was injured. Firefighters from Alsen, Brownsville, Baker and Baton Rouge were summoned to the scene about 6 p.m.
Investigators with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms will be notified according to routine procedure in church fires, Baton Rouge Fire Department spokesman Barry Mounce said.
Most of the roof collapsed as firefighters doused the building with streams of water, leaving only the small steeple still standing.
The Rev. Enos Morrison, the church’s pastor, said he had spent the day at the church, preparing for Sunday communion and mowing the grass. He said he left the church about 30 minutes before receiving a call about the fire and rushing back.
The church is heated by a propane furnace, Morrison said, which he lit before leaving the building Saturday. The building was not insured, Morrison said.
New Prospect was in a building that once housed a nightclub in the 1950s, said church member Ollie Taplin. It was converted to a church in the 1960s.
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Information from: The Advocate, http://www.theadvocate.com