The historic First Baptist Church sanctuary built in the 1800’s went up in flames Friday evening.
The fire reached four alarms after the roof partially collapsed, but it has now been contained.
Senior Pastor Robert Jeffress says he’s grateful no congregants were harmed.
Things seemed to be mostly under control until the flames rekindled around 7:35 p.m. when the roof partially collapsed.
FOX 4 crews were on the ground when part of the Historic Sanctuary building collapsed, re-igniting the fire.
“I was baptized there when I was 6, I was ordained in ministry when I was 21. It holds a lot of memories. We thank God that nobody has been hurt. We had just concluded vacation bible school with over 2,000 kids. They were all gone, so God has protected us through all this,” Jeffress told FOX 4. “I’m grateful that the church is not bricks or mortar or wood; it’s people.”
First Baptist is expected to hold a service at 11 a.m. at the Dallas Convention Center on Sunday.
Most firefighting operations began to shut down around 2 in the morning.
On Saturday morning, crews were still in the area of the church, spraying water to extinguish hot spots.
Dallas Fire-Rescue says the church will be required to put barriers around the building, provide 24 hour security and structural engineer’s report within 24 hours.
Dallas Fire-Rescue will continue to have crews on scene until the building is declared secure or it is demolished.
FOX 4 viewer Elias Canales shared drone video showing the damage to First Baptist Dallas’ historic sanctuary after a large fire on Friday night.
The video from above the historic sanctuary shows much of the building was damaged in the fire.
First Baptist Dallas was started in 1868, but the red brick building, known as the historic sanctuary was not built until 1890, according to the Texas Historic Commission.
This is a developing story. Check back with FOX 4 for more info.
