The more than 125 year old Sandoval Methodist church on Missouri Avenue was destroyed in a quickly moving Wednesday afternoon fire. Sandoval Fire Chief Scott Towler says a downed power pole may have set off the fire.
“A power pole laying on the roof. Heavy fire through the roof, and wind was an issue heavy south winds expanded the fire up into the main church. We kept all the exposures protected. We got some damage on some exposures, but we kept all the fire contained to the building. Obviously the building is a total loss. Fire marshals been called just as a precautionary just because it is a church.”
Minister Ken Hayden says the large two story church with basement contained a fellowship hall, nursery, pre-nursery, and classrooms.
“Discussions with the insurance company. Then our council will probably hold worship Sunday somewhere, we won’t let that stop us.”
The church also houses the Sandoval Shalom food and clothing pantry. Shalom Treasurer Sandy Robinett.
“We served 65 families this weekend out of this building. Our freezers were full, the pantry was full, and all the clothing we had in there was gone.”
Fire departments from a four county area brought firefighting equipment and water. With three aerial trucks pouring water onto the fire, the Sandoval Water System could not handle the volume and fire trucks began hauling in water and dumping it in large water troughs to support the effort.
Traffic along US 50 in Sandoval had to be diverted away from the firefighting scene.
No one was in the church when the fire was first spotted around 1:30 Wednesday afternoon. Firemen remained on the scene until after six Wednesday night.
A large number of departments provided mutual aid. They were Odin, Patoka, Salem, Centralia city, Centralia district, Kinmundy-Alma, Iuka, Hoffman, Huey-Boulder-Ferrin, Beckemeyer, Jefferson Fire, Waltonville, Woodlawn, Wayne City, Cisne and Irvington. Kell firemen stood by at the Salem Fire Station in the event of a fire in the Salem area.
Picture by: Lori Dillon
