Category: News

Historic California church heavily damaged by fire, cause unknown

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Fire heavily damaged a 140-year-old California church building in Forestville, California.

A spokesperson for Forestville No. 3 Fire District said the fire was prevented from spreading from the building owned by the Forestville Church of Christ.

The Press Democrat reports the church was built in 1879 with old-growth redwood and was a, “piece of local history as well as a religious gathering place.”

The cause of the fire remains unknown.  The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting in the investigation.

Man upset with Virginia church shelter staff sets building on fire

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A Virginia fire marshal says an arsonist who set a church building on fire this week claims he did it because he was prevented from staying in the church’s shelter with others seeking to escape the freezing conditions. Deputy Fire Marshal Matthew Gearhart said the suspect’s name will not be released until pending charges are filed.

The fire was reported Thursday at the Market Street United Methodist Church.

The church posted on social media that everyone was safe following the fire.

Authorities in Virignia say the man was denied entry because of a history of disrupting shelters.

Vandals paint messages of hate on Ohio church building

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A congregation in Deerfield, Ohio was targed this week by vandals who painted swastikas, racial slurs, and Satanic symbols on the church building.

Pastor Rodney Hedge of Kings Mills Baptist Church told Fox 19 in Ohio he got an early morning phone call about what was called an “all hands on deck” situation. He told the TV station it was the first time his congregation had to deal with this type of vandalism.

A church representative made a Facebook post showing damage left by the criminals.

The motive of the vandals has not yet been determined.

Renovation begins on the oldest church building in Grand Falls-Windsor

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Volunteers are deep into a project to renovate a church building in Grand Falls-Windsor that was heavily damaged by fire.

The CBC reports St. Matthew’s Presbyterian Church is being renovated after it was damaged in a fire in October. Bob Thompson, chair of the church’s board of managers, says it’s the biggest renovation in the church’s 110-year-history.

Click here to read the story on CBC.ca