One of our churches burned down early this morning

It happened in Mukilteo, Washington, near Seattle. 
Some friends of Dennis attend church in that building.  
When they lived in Corona, Kim and Kris use to babysit their children.

About 800 people attended this church building every Sunday.


 From the news report:

"A two-alarm fire destroyed a church on Harbour Pointe Boulevard early Saturday.

Mukilteo fire crews were called to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around 3 a.m. They arrived soon after to see flames through the windows in the center of the church. Soon after, the fire shot through the roof and started spreading to the rest of the building. Five minutes later, the call for a second alarm was sent out.

Crews from Everett, Lynnwood and Snohomish County Fire District #1 came to help fight the fire. They quickly went into a defensive stance because of the intensity of the fire. The flames consumed the entire church, and eventually the building collapsed.

There was no one inside the church when the fire broke out, Mukilteo Assistant Fire Chief Brian McMahan said. No firefighters were injured while fighting the fire.

Crews will be at the site throughout the day to put out hot spots. The building is considered a total loss. Two wards, Harbour Pointe and Beverly Park, called the building home.

McMahan said that the fire was aided by the fact that there were no sprinklers in the building, as it was built before city codes required them. Investigators are at the scene trying to find a cause for the fire."




Our buildings are sacred to us, and it's just very sad to see these pictures.

Very thankfully no one was hurt. 

This would be such a loss to so many families and to their community. I am quite attached to our ward building...I have 20 years of good memories there. I would hate to lose it.

I just read that fire authorities say that it appears it was deliberately set.

10 comments:

The Taylor Family said...

I am so sorry to hear of this loss. I'll be praying for the members of that church.

Tyler Heasley said...

Wow. The first thing I thought of when I saw the first picture was, "Okay. Who did it?" I'm sure it will be interesting for the members to find a place to attend church for a few months.

grandmapeg said...

I saw that on our news here yesterday. What a tragedy, but thankfully nobody was hurt. My heart goes out to the members. Thanks for showing the additional pictures.

Karen Mortensen said...

I read about this a little on Deseret News. This is so sad. Especially when it was set on purpose.

Elder Richards said...

Yes, we are very sad..... We are now attending in Everett and it will take quite sometime to be re-built. We are sad to find out it was in fact arson but they already have leads so we are sure they will find out soon who started the fire. But that is behind us. The important thing to do is forgive.

Elder Wirthlin taught, Though our trials are diverse, there is one thing the Lord expects of us no matter our difficulties and sorrows: He expects us to press on, and that is exactly what we will do.

And yes, Kim and Kris baby -sat our three girls, I am sad our boys never had them as sitters. Kim and Kris were our families all time favorite. Along with Dennis of course!

Grandma Honey said...

Dana~ I had no idea you read my blog. I was so happy to see you here! Please let us know...was it chaos at church today, or did it still go well with all the changes? I kept thinking of your ward today while we were at church. It's just so sad that someone, for whatever reason, felt compelled to burn it up.

Elder Richards said...

No Choas, just pressing forward. The news came out to film our ward. They interviewed our youth and they asked, "what do you think should happen to this person?" One YM said," we think the government officials should handle it". They then said, "how do you feel?, and he said we are taught that God forgives all, and so will we"

They even filmed our sweet primary children singing. There is lots of good that will come of this! Our community is really reaching out and less actives feel a sense of loss . I hope when our building opens back up we can have a open house and give back to the community and teach what we believe.

And yes I read your blog! You sent the address to MM Group and I adore your family! You are a wonderful wife and mother, and daughter! I just love the way you write and think. You are a good woman!

go to komo5news for the updated interview.

threelittlebackseatdrivers.blogspot.com said...

Jill, we have friends that go to this ward building as well. So sad. It's interesting we still have ward buildings without sprinklers. That was an interesting tidbit. So glad no one was hurt.

darlene said...

I love the positive attitude of Elder Richards.

Susan Anderson said...

This story made me sad, too. I hope that something positive can come out of it in the end and that all of the ward members will be good examples for the community as they go through this experience.

=)

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