Fire at downtown Bloomington church quickly contained; no injuries reported

Mid-afternoon on Wednesday, Bloomington firefighters put out a blaze at the First Christian Church, located at the corner of Kirkwood Avenue and Washington Street in downtown Bloomington.

The very first note in the dispatch traffic on the incident was received at 3:06 p.m., according to deputy chief Max Litwin of the Bloomington Fire Department, who briefed press on the scene. Chief Roger Kerr was also on site. By around 3:20 p.m. the black smoke that was billowing from the roof was no longer visible.

According to Litwin, the fire started on the flat roof at the front of the building. But the exact cause remains under investigation. A fire department investigator was already on site gathering information and photographs, Litwin said. The black smoke is consistent with burning roof repair materials that were part of a construction project on the roof, Litwin said. But no determination has been made about the cause. [Updated Friday, Oct. 3 at 2:20 p.m. The investigation is still not complete, according to Bloomington Fire Department, and no cause has yet been officially determined.]

Eight firetrucks responded, according to Litwin. Firefighters were able to get to the scene and knock down the fire quickly, confining water and smoke damage to the front area of the building, he said. An ambulance from Monroe Fire Protection District responded to the incident, but there were no reported injuries.

The church has several renovation projects underway, senior pastor Kyrmen Rea told The B Square as she watched firefighters handle the scene after the blaze was put out. Rea said the church was in the middle of a capital campaign, with several different construction projects happening at once, including painting window trim and repairs to the roof.

She said that even though the cause of the fire was still not determined, it would seem “awfully coincidental” if it didn’t have something to do with roof construction, adding, “But we don’t know.” She also stressed that everyone was able to get out safely: “Everybody got out—everybody, we’re really grateful.”

One of the people inside the building at the time was the church’s director of outreach, Caleb Hoagland. He told The B Square. “Someone yelled ‘fire,’ and I saw flames from outside after we evacuated,” Hoagland said.

He briefly re-entered the church to retrieve a laptop and other valuables from the ground floor, saying that even though there was smoke inside, he “never felt like [he] was in danger.” Hoagland covered his mouth as a precaution but was able to exit safely.

Hoagland stressed the swift response of the Bloomington firefighters, who arrived just as he was leaving the building. “The fire department did a great job. They were promptly on the scene, and they extinguished the fire very well,” he said.

After the fire was put out, firefighters entered the “salvage and overhaul” phase of the fire scene response after the basic work of putting out the fire. That activity included placing tarps over items inside the building to prevent further water and smoke damage, and carrying important contents—such as books and furniture—outside to protect them. “You salvage what property you can internally and externally,” Litwin said. He described a part of the overhaul process as checking for any fire hidden in walls, attics, or ceilings.

At one point during the firefighting operation, firefighters radioed for a chainsaw to ventilate the roof and give them access to the area between. The tower platform from an aerial apparatus was used to bring a chainsaw up to firefighters working there. Levin said he had not verified that the saw was actually used—as chainsaw sounds were not clearly audible from the street.

The presence of bollards closing off Kirkwood Avenue for the city’s summer dining program did not affect the timing of the response from the fire department, according to Litwin. The block between Washington Street and Lincoln Street, which the church fronts, is not closed off.

Even if bollards had been in place at Kirkwood and Washington, they would not have impeded the trucks that first arrived, along Washington Street, Litwin said.