Cold temperatures and water issues hampered firefighters as they battled a fast-moving blaze that destroyed a church in Swan Valley Tuesday.
The fire started in the clerk's office of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel around 2 p.m.
Within 15 minutes, the church was engulfed in flames, local station KIDK reports.
“It’s been a mainstay in the valley for a long time,” Gordon Gallup told the television station crew. “People have driven by here for years. It’s a big hot spot in the summer time, a lot of summer members come. Really pretty sad,” said Gallup.
Officials say firefighters from Ammon, the Bonneville Fire District, Jefferson County, Madison and Swan Valley battled the fire with temperatures in the teens.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
