A former large church building that had been converted into a house in rural Alma was destroyed by fire late Saturday night and early Sunday morning.
Kinmundy-Alma Fire Chief Kevin Day says the fire at 4335 Alma-Hatchery Road had already spread through the suspended ceiling on part of the building upon their arrival. The roof on the concrete block building eventually collapsed into the 50 by 150-foot structure.
The owner of the home, Cameron Powell, was not home at the time. A man working in a garage section of the building began hearing popping and cracking sounds and opened the door to the home and discovered it was fully involved in fire.
There were a number of propane cylinders in the home resulting in multiple explosions during the firefighting effort.
Day says the owner believes the fire may have started from a space heater in the bathroom.
Powell lost all of his possessions including two dogs. He was being assisted by the Red Cross before firefighters left the scene.
Kinmundy-Alma Firemen received the call at 10:20 Saturday night. Due to the size of the building and the fire load, mutual aid was called from Salem, Iuka, Sandoval, North Clay, and Farina. St. Peter stood by at the Kinmundy-Alma Fire Station in the event of another fire. Firemen remained on the scene until 3:45 Saturday morning.
