“Damn, everything is gone everything.”
Grand Rapids firefighters were still on the scene when Antonio Todd took a bicycle ride past the smoldering church on Oakes Street and posted what he saw on Facebook.
“Everything is gone, yea everything is gone. There is no church left.”
The fire was reported about 11 Wednesday night, but fire department captain Ryan Sparks believes it started much earlier.
“This fire burned a long time before we were even notified, potentially hours before we were notified.”
Tomas Debourgha watched as firefighters tried to save the building.
“Pouring water into the top of that building. It’s not calming down. Every time they douse one fire another part comes back on fire.”
“We thought we had it knocked down and it would show up somewhere else.”
The LaGrave Christian Reformed Church across the street bought the building in 2017. Nearby resident Leonard Brown says they were planning a facility for homeless people.
“They were in the process of making this some kind of homeless resource center.”
But Captain Sparks says the building has major damage.
“The roof has collapsed, the main cupola which was on the roof in the center has collapsed. So, there is significant damage to the building.”
