Jan 2 07 (From a set of 72)
From this set: www.flickr.com/photos/whitebeard/sets/72157594455632033/
Fire destroyed the Evangelical Missionary Church in Stayner, Ontario this afternoon. Despite the best efforts of the Clearview Volunteer Fire Department, the church was a total loss. They really didn't have any chance to save the structure. It is estimated that the fire was probably burning for about 10-12 hours before an alarm was turned in, and by the time the first responders arrived, the interior heat and smoke prevented them from entering the building. Adding to their problems was the fact that the church had recently received a new steel roof which prevented them from attacking the fire which seemed to be in that location. The best they could do was to attack the fire from outside. The local firefighters were assisted by an aerial water canon from the nearby Town of Collingwood.
About three hours into the battle, they had to respond to a house fire some 12km west of the community, but this did not appear to have any effect on their efforts with this fire.
The oldest part of the church was built in 1890, with additions in the 1960s and 1970s.
Jan 5/07:
I learned today that the OFM officials believe that the fire started in an electrical junction box in the floor below the alter. It apparently spread through the floor to the west wall and up to the ceiling, traveled east through the ceiling to the old part of the church where it could move no further and became the centre of the fire. The floor below the alter was consumed, but the rest of the sanctuary floor remains intact. That part of the church burned from the ceiling down, and their grand piano and the pews remain, suffering only heat & water damage except where burning debris landed on them. Some of the pews might be saved and refinished.
Jan 2 07 (From a set of 72)
From this set: www.flickr.com/photos/whitebeard/sets/72157594455632033/
Fire destroyed the Evangelical Missionary Church in Stayner, Ontario this afternoon. Despite the best efforts of the Clearview Volunteer Fire Department, the church was a total loss. They really didn't have any chance to save the structure. It is estimated that the fire was probably burning for about 10-12 hours before an alarm was turned in, and by the time the first responders arrived, the interior heat and smoke prevented them from entering the building. Adding to their problems was the fact that the church had recently received a new steel roof which prevented them from attacking the fire which seemed to be in that location. The best they could do was to attack the fire from outside. The local firefighters were assisted by an aerial water canon from the nearby Town of Collingwood.
About three hours into the battle, they had to respond to a house fire some 12km west of the community, but this did not appear to have any effect on their efforts with this fire.
The oldest part of the church was built in 1890, with additions in the 1960s and 1970s.
Jan 5/07:
I learned today that the OFM officials believe that the fire started in an electrical junction box in the floor below the alter. It apparently spread through the floor to the west wall and up to the ceiling, traveled east through the ceiling to the old part of the church where it could move no further and became the centre of the fire. The floor below the alter was consumed, but the rest of the sanctuary floor remains intact. That part of the church burned from the ceiling down, and their grand piano and the pews remain, suffering only heat & water damage except where burning debris landed on them. Some of the pews might be saved and refinished.