The historic First Baptist Dallas church's chapel, which served as the nationally famous church's place of worship for more than a century, largely collapsed Friday night during a four-alarm fire.
Senior pastor Robert Jeffress said in a statement that church leaders are "grateful that no life has been lost that we know of, even though we just had 2,000 children and volunteers on campus for Vacation Bible School," reports The Dallas Morning News.
Church representatives said in a Facebook post late Friday that services are still planned for Sunday.
"As tragic as the loss of this old sanctuary is, we are grateful that the church is not bricks and wood, but composed of over 16,000 people who are determined [now] more than ever to reach the world for the gospel of Christ," Jeffress said in a statement. "Please pray for all of First Baptist Dallas."
Jeffress has become a well-known national figure in recent years, becoming one of former President Donald Trump's more prominent Christian advisers and visiting the White House frequently. Trump visited the church in December 2021, at which time Jeffress referred to him as one of his closest friends.
Church officials said they "continue to praise God for His hand of protection on our church" and are grateful that nobody was injured.
They also said they are thankful to the first responders who helped contain the fire to the historic sanctuary, which had been in use as the church's primary location until its new sanctuary was built in 2013.
Crews were called to the sanctuary, located at 1717 San Jacinto Street, at 6:05 p.m. local time Friday and encountered heavy smoke from the fire, Capt. Robert Borse told The Dallas Morning News.
The fire was first classified as a two-alarm blaze, but after about an hour and a half, the fire department sounded it as a third alarm. The fire department at 8:14 p.m. classified it as a fourth-alarm fire out of concerns about damages to the church's surrounding structures, said Borse.
The chapel partially collapsed just after 7:30 p.m. More than 60 units responded to the fire, according to an active calls list on the Dallas Fire-Rescue website.
The crews contained the fire by 9:46 p.m., more than three hours after receiving the initial call. Borse said that he had no reports of evacuations in the immediate area or damages to surrounding structures from the blaze.
He added that Dallas Fire-Rescue arson investigators will begin their probe of the fire once firefighting operations finish and they can enter the building.
Ben Lovvorn, the executive pastor at First Baptist Dallas, commented that he did not yet know the cause of the fire, and said that he was one of the last people in the building.
"We know that God is in control, and we know, even in difficult times, he's sovereign over all things," he commented. "If at all possible, we're planning on having church on Sunday."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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