Fire destroys Baptist church in Chaffee

Pastor Doug McClellan held a white coffee cup in his hand as he watched and smelled his church building rise to the heavens in the form of heavy, malodorous smoke late Tuesday morning.

Through his large, thick eye glasses, the minister could see two firefighters perched high in a bucket, spraying water through a hole near the roof's apex. He watched another one who was crouched in front of the church, spraying a thick stream of water through the charred foyer and into what used to be the sanctuary. It appeared the firefighter was trying to fill the church as if it were a big, backyard swimming pool.

It was 11 a.m. and the fight to save the building was long over. Witnesses say not long after the fire started, the front doors were blown out and debris landed in the middle of Fifth Street. Fire personnel never got the chance to enter the building.

The firefighters had more or less gained control by noon or so, but the building was beyond salvation. The pews, the organ, the pulpit, everything that was on the main level had collapsed into the basement. Hymnals, study materials, classroom furniture, everything in the church was melted into an unidentifiable black charcoal mass. All the firefighters could do now was cool off the embers and prepare the building for investigation and demolition.

The mist from the fire hoses added to the drizzle and the light sleet. The thick smoke fogged the neighborhood.

As McClellan watched the firefighters and sipped his coffee, his thoughts swayed. Disastrous fires invoke all sorts of different outlooks and insights, even from the same person.

"It's just hard to look at," he said of the building that was built in 1977. "This is a building where special people gather together to worship and it's been destroyed by fire."

Later, he thought of it another way.

"Let's face it," he said. "This is just a building. The church is the people."

He was thankful that the fire occurred when it did, at roughly 4:15 a.m. The church opens its doors almost nightly for different group meetings, including a Girl Scout troop.

Then he thought of some special items in his office. He thought about Bibles that were given to him by family members who have died. He remembered homemade gifts and photos of his children now lost forever.

But a few moments later, he was able to laugh about spiritual metaphors.

"We're always saying you need a fire for Jesus," he said. "But we're talking about a spiritual fire."

McClellan's dreary day began around 4:10 a.m.

Deacon David Copeland, a longtime member, had just arrived at the church, as he does every early Wednesday morning. A group of men meet at 6 a.m. for Promise Keepers in the basement of the church. They eat breakfast, study scriptures and pray.

Copeland is the group's chef. He makes sausage and biscuits. He also kicks on the heat and gets the place warm. Usually, he studies passages alone before the meetings in case he's asked to lead. The men were to study Deuteronomy 29.

"I turned the thermostat on," Copeland said, "and started working on the biscuits. Maybe three or four minutes passed and I heard a noise and I saw smoke coming through the paneling of the furnace room. Then I heard a sizzling and a crackling noise."

When he looked into the furnace room, it was fully engulfed. He hurried to a telephone two rooms away, dialed 911 and let it ring three times. Smoke was already pouring in. He hung up the phone and ran to the stairs. There wasn't even enough time to grab his favorite Bible.

He said the flames spread so quickly on the ceiling, they reached the door to the stairs before he did.

Copeland rushed across the parking lot to the church parsonage where he woke his pastor. McClellan called 911.

By the time the firefighters arrived, the church was too far gone to enter the building.

It took several hours for the firefighters to beat down the blaze. Firefighters from Chaffee, Delta, Scott City, Jackson and East County fire departments responded. In the meantime, McClellan's wife sat on the parsonage porch with her telephone, making and receiving phone calls.

At about 5 a.m., church clerk Anna Wicker found out through her daughter's fiance, who is a Delta firefighter, that the church was on fire. She saw the damage for herself a couple of hours later.

"It really floored me to see it," said Wickler, a member since 1996. "You see these things on TV and read about them in the paper, but when it hits home it has a real numbing effect. But I know God has a plan."

By noon, a Methodist church pastor had called and offered to rearrange his church schedule and share the sanctuary with the General Baptist congregation. Another church called to offer a place for Wednesday night's service, but plans for the youth service had already been made at the skating rink. Dr. Arnold Bell, the Chaffee school superintendent, had called to offer the school activity center as a temporary meeting place for the church.

"We've had an outpouring of support," Tammy McClellan said.

The pastor and Copeland spent several minutes inside the parsonage, answering questions from the fire investigators.

State fire marshal Butch Amann said he had no reason not to believe Copeland's story, but he and the Division of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are obligated by law to investigate all church fires. He said heavy equipment will need to be brought in so he can take a look at the fire's origin.

After answering the questions, McClellan, who has been pastor of the church for about 18 months, came outside again to watch more of the destruction. Before long, a backhoe was brought in to rip off the roof. Later the brick walls were pulled down.

Even as he watched and smelled the ruins of the church building, McClellan said he believes good things will come out of this unfortunate situation. He said it will bring the congregation closer together and closer to God.

As for the short term, McClellan and other church leaders decided that the church will meet Sunday in the school's activity center at 9:30 a.m. for Sunday School. Worship will follow at 10:30.

bmiller@semissourian.com

243-6635