Mount Carey Baptist picking up the pieces after fire

Christopher Thomas, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

MEMBERS OF the Mount Carey Baptist Church in St James are still reeling emotionally after a fire razed their church building early Thursday morning.

The fire began sometime after 2 a.m. and destroyed most of the building, which was just under 200 years old.

Charles Hall, deacon of the church and moderator of the local circuit, told The Gleaner that he received a call shortly after 2 a.m., informing him that the building was ablaze.

"When I came, I found the church engulfed," he recalled. "Two fire brigades were here. While I was here, a third came, but they could not enter the building. They were only able to do cooling-down operations."

Despite this, the deacon said, the church's planned activities will not be cancelled.

"The activities of the church are very progressive ... we were hoping to have a crusade meeting start this Sunday night, which we hope will be on; we're not cancelling it," he declared.

"The activities of the church will continue, if we have to use a tent or maybe the centre can be cleaned up. We have those options."

Disappointment

Dawn Panter, a 20-year church member and member of the church's Ushers Board, expressed disappointment.

"I can remember Sunday when we were at church, the fellowship we had; when church over, we meet and greet, and just to find out this morning that the place where we fellowship together is just gone like that, it's very, very sad," she lamented.

Patricia Palmer, another church member, said that the church's destruction was disheartening.

"I got a call early this morning, and I'm still in shock. Seeing is believing; but seeing, believing, all the emotions, I'm still very numb," she admitted.

"We just have to pick up the pieces, be cognisant of the fact that this is the building, but the church is the people, and move on. The same God who allowed us to have that edifice, that God is still here, and we'll rise again, like the phoenix, we'll rise again."

Dolfin Doeman, divisional head of the St James Fire Brigade, reported that the department was called at 2:25 a.m. and responded with three units.

"On arrival, the roof of the building was seen engulfed in flames," Doeman told The Gleaner. "The building was badly damaged, most of it destroyed."

An estimate of the cost of damage has not been established, but it is expected to run in the millions. The cause of the fire was not known up to Thursday.

"We're still conducting investigations," Doeman added.