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Spent fireworks ignite church blaze

Brush Prairie church members say they hope to rebuild

By John Branton, Bob Albrecht
Published: July 6, 2010, 12:00am
2 Photos
Members of the congregation at La Iglesias de Dios de la Profecia in Brush Prairie watch Monday as firefighters work on the badly damaged church building.
Members of the congregation at La Iglesias de Dios de la Profecia in Brush Prairie watch Monday as firefighters work on the badly damaged church building. Photo Gallery

A fire that destroyed a Brush Prairie church very early Monday was caused by a bag of fireworks debris that someone had placed next to the building, a fire official said Monday afternoon.

A parishioner of La Iglesias de Dios de la Profecia, whose name was not immediately available, had diligently gathered up the spent fireworks and put them in the bag, not realizing that something was still smoldering inside that could start a fire, said Deputy Chief Scott Sorenson with Fire District 3.

The $281,000 fire was investigated by the Clark County Fire Marshal’s Office and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — and is believed to have been accidental, Sorenson said.

Church officials said they met with insurance adjusters later Monday, and hope to rebuild the church.

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At the fire scene Monday morning after the blaze, Pastor Samuel Munoz leaned against a storage building, staring at the charred, smoking remains of his church. His congregation gathered around him, sharing tears and hugs.

Munoz occasionally succumbed to tears of his own, admitting the fire that destroyed the church is too much for him to bear. “I depend on my God,” he said.

Fire crews kept a watchful eye Monday over the fire reported shortly after 3 a.m., which tore through the Spanish-language church at 13000 N.E. 159th St. in Brush Prairie. Investigators from the fire marshal’s office focused throughout the day on the church’s front entrance, where a downed wall left an indoor staircase exposed.

No one was believed to have been inside when the blaze ignited.

A neighbor who called 911 told firefighters she saw the roof collapse and flames reach out into the night sky.

As crews worked Monday morning, smoke continued to billow out of the building. The demolished building was a two-story structure with an attic and full basement.

Fire District 3 Assistant Chief Donavon Mattern said teams were likely to remain on scene throughout the day, ready to stifle “hot spots” with the potential to re-ignite.

“It ran through the whole attic,” Mattern said of the blaze. “It’s an older church.”

Munoz said the church was insured.

The pastor said a member of his congregation who lives in a home that shares its yard with the church woke him with a phone call at 3:20 a.m. to tell him the church he’s presided over for 10 years was on fire.

He said he arrived while the building was fully engulfed. “The firefighters were doing everything they could,” Munoz said.

Later, as he watched firefighters roll up their hoses, he said his congregation is committed to remaining together. The church has nearly 100 members.

The church has services on Tuesday and Thursday nights, a Sunday morning service and a Sunday school. He said he didn’t yet understand why the church was destroyed but that everything “happens for a reason.”

Pointing on Monday to about 20 members of his congregation gathered near what was once their church, he said: “We will continue.”

Neighbors have offered the use of other buildings, Sorenson said late Monday afternoon.

Pastor Munoz said he doesn’t like fireworks because of experiences years ago in Mexico.

“I don’t like it because it’s a danger,” he said. “When I was a child in my country, I don’t like to use it because I saw a lot of children burned.”

Such fires can be prevented, Sorenson said.

Folks should place spent fireworks in a metal bucket, preferably with a lid, then wet the contents down and keep it away from any flammable materials, Sorenson said. At the very least, he said, they must be soaked with water and kept away from anything that can burn.

That also applies to barbecue coals, wood stove fire debris and flammable material that has absorbed vegetable oil, which can combust spontaneously, Sorenson said.

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