Font Size

Chicago Area Local News

E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Fire Severely Damages West Side Church

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

Recipient E-mail:*
- Your Name:*
- Your E-mail:*
Add a Message:
Send me a copy of this e-mail.

Type the characters in this picture:*

Click here to refresh with new letters

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

Print Share + Comments

Jan 18, 2008 6:35 pm US/Central

Fire Severely Damages West Side Church

CHICAGO (CBS) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: A fire broke out Friday at this North Austin neighborhood church.
CBS

Close

numSlides of totalImages

Related Slideshows

: Top 10 Most Popular Dog Breeds In U.S.

: Auto Show '08 Rolls Into Detroit

: Chicago Boat, RV & Outdoors Show Must-Sees

: 2008 Presidential Hopefuls

: The Rise Of Barack Obama

It was a scene of fire and ice Friday morning on Chicago's West Side.

Flames ripped through an old and historic church in the North Austin neighborhood, sending one firefighter to the hospital.

Members of the congregation say it will be difficult, but they are vowing to regroup and rebuild.

The massive church fire sent flames and smoke shooting into the morning air.

Crews responded around 9:15 a.m. to a fire at the Emmanuel Temple Church, at 562 N. LeClaire Ave. By 11 a.m., most of the fire crews were cleaning up. Firefighters battled the blaze beginning with an interior attack inside the church, and moved to tower ladders outside later, but now the Emmanuel Temple AME Church is in ruins.

"There's nothing you can say…it's gone," said church member Ameerah Johnson.

"We've done a lot for the community, given back so much – it's just devastating," said Chadawn Parker, a youth leader at the church.

"There are no words right now," said assistant pastor Rev. Dawn Parker. "It's devastating, it's surreal, it's unbelievable."

The congregation is small, only 20 people, but the place of worship has great historic value. According to firefighters, the building has been standing for 100 years.

"They very honestly tried to do their very best to save this structure, unfortunately it just wasn't to be," said fire deputy Patrick Kehoe.

Firefighters braved single digit temperatures putting out the blaze. One suffered a shoulder injury and was taken to the hospital.

As for members of the church, they are now turning to each other and the power of prayer to cope with their loss.

"It's gonna mean a pulling together, it's going to mean a retooling and refueling," Parker said. "Most of all, it's gonna mean an extreme showing of our love for the Lord and for each other."

The fire destroyed the entire roof of the sanctuary, but the bell tower and steeple remained standing.

A wooden frame house next door to the church was also damaged. But no injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

CBS 2's Kris Habermehl, Vince Gerasole, and the STNG Wire, contribtued to this report.

cbs2chicago.com's Most Popular Pages
Slideshow: The Rise Of Barack Obama
Slideshow: 90s TV Stars Then And Now
Slideshow: World's Most Bizarre Deaths
Slideshow: In To Be Out: Gay Celebrities
Slideshow: Did You Know? Stars From Chicago!

Add Comment

here. here. Need a log in? Register here

Your Name
Your E-Mail * Will not be displayed with comment
Suggest Link * e.g. (http://www.mywebsite.com)
Your Comment

Type the characters in this picture:*

Click here to refresh with new letters

Show Comments (0)

Close Window Login

Password:

Forgot Password | Register Here

Close Window Flag Comment

You are flagging the following comment:

Username:
E-mail:
Reason:

Type the characters in this picture:*

Click here to refresh with new letters

You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.