Police investigate if late-night fire that destroyed old Centre County church was intentional
An investigation is underway into whether a late-night fire that destroyed an old church Wednesday in Centre County was intentional.
The Alpha Fire Company responded to a fire at the old Methodist Church at the intersection of Fillmore Road and Buffalo Run Road in Patton Township around 2:45 a.m. Wednesday, according to Shawn Kauffman, fire director for the Centre Region Fire Protection Program at the Centre Region Council of Governments. The state police and Patton Township Police Department are investigating “what appears to possibly be an intentional fire,” he said.
The church closed its doors in fall 2022, according to its Facebook page. The building has been used as a rec center, Kauffman said.
“It appeared it had maybe been burning for a little while before it got reported,” Kauffman said, adding the initial reports stated heavy fire was coming from the roof area.
Once Alpha arrived at the scene, the roof was heavily involved in the fire. Firefighters tried to knock out the fire, he said, but were unsuccessful. The roof began to collapse, so everyone battling the fire had to get out of the building. They went into “defensive operations” to prevent anyone from getting injured.
No firefighters were injured, and the building was unoccupied when they arrived.
It took about an hour to get it fully under control and a few hours to get all the hot spots out, Kauffman said. Most units returned to their home stations between 5 and 6 a.m.
Alpha and the Bellefonte Fire Departments were the primary units at the fire; water tankers from throughout Centre County also responded.
Kauffman said people should remain vigilant and report anything that seems suspicious by calling 911.
This is the second church to be damaged in a fire recently. In September the Woodycrest United Methodist Church in Patton Township partially collapsed after a fire.
This story was originally published October 9, 2024 at 3:52 PM.
