Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 16, 1992 TAG: 9201170228
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FRANCES STEBBINS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
PASTORS TOLD OF DANGER OF FIRE
With the possibility of vandalism, large open spaces with considerable wood and foam-rubber pew cushions and sometimes little attention during the week, a church is a likely place for a fire to start.Reflecting on this at a recent meeting of the Evangelical Ministers Conference, Roanoke County fire inspector Randy Spence said fires in churches can be among the most devastating. At least a half-dozen churches in or near the Roanoke Valley have suffered heavy damage over the past decade.
Lately, however, the valley has been fortunate, said public safety personnel in the cities of Roanoke and Salem.
Peter Kandis said only one small fire originating in a church was reported in the city during the past two years. Danny Hall, who investigates Salem fires, said he couldn't recall a bad blaze in a church there.
But church fires can occur any time, Spence said as he showed a photo of a Radford-area sanctuary gutted by a blaze that started from defective wiring. "Defective," he noted, usually means that too many cords have been hooked to an outlet and left unattended.
That practice is especially likely in December when trees and other decorations are lit for long hours. Though fresh greenery has been prohibited in public places - including churches - for the past decade, the use of plastic or treated foliage does not eliminate the problem of overloaded circuits, Spence said.
Small 6-foot cords often hooked together and run along walls and floors are one of the most common causes of fires in both churches and homes, Spence said.
And there are candles. The beautiful services in which a whole congregation - including young children or the feeble elderly - light and hold burning candles "always worry me, but I guess we'll never get rid of them," Spence said.
He prefers, for safety reasons, to have lighted candles in the hands of only a few leaders of worship.
When vandals break into a church or camp in one with unlocked doors and windows, they can easily destroy a building by setting a fire in its worship area, Spence said. Flames spread quickly in the open spaces and ignite the wood of pews, pulpit and Communion tables, especially when the building is unused for several days.
Even worse is what can happen in the kitchen and fellowship hall area, where some churches still use old stage curtains left for years untreated with fire retardant. In kitchens where breakfast is cooked, the fires involve grease from bacon and sausage as well as hamburgers, Spence told about a dozen clergy.
The nightmare no church wants to consider comes about when exit lights are not kept on or when rarely used doors are blocked.
Fires can start easily when newspapers for recycling or heavy boxes of old hymnals are stacked in corridors at a time when a large crowd is on hand for evening programs, the fire inspector said.
In the summer when volunteers usually cut the grass, they should store gas for the lawnmower outside the main building, Spence said. Oily rags, combined with crowded storage closets, are as much a danger in a church fellowship hall as they are in a home kitchen - except the loss of life and property is potentially greater.
In answer to a question, Spence said church fires generally are considered accidents by insurance companies; a policy is not invalidated when carelessness caused the blaze. Damages from several fires were compensated for by insurance, although investigation showed they were caused by arson.
As a member of New Life Temple Pentecostal Holiness Church, the 31-year-old Spence was a useful guide when a large new worship center was erected last year, said his pastor, the Rev. Walter Wood, and the church administrator Walter Poff.
Some of the cost of the new building came from its roomful of electronic equipment, including computers and sophisticated sound and temperature-control systems. Such materials, Spence told the clergy, can be ruined if a small fire in them is attacked by ordinary fire equipment. A special extinguishing product which quickly removes oxygen from the air is on hand to protect New Life Temple's investment in church technology.
For lay people and church staffs who may have to deal with waste-basket blazes and hamburger grease, Spence offered a one-word formula for quick action with a fire extinguisher - PASS. It stands for Pull, Aim, Squeeze and Sweep.
Once the cap is loosened on a hand extinguisher, its usefulness in an emergency is gone, Spence noted. A responsible church property manager has hand extinguishers checked each year and pays enough - about $25 each - to get one that kills fires in paper and wood, flammable liquids and electrical equipment.
On request, Spence said, he and other fire prevention workers will check church property for potential hazards.