Firefighters evacuated a burning church just moments before the roof collapsed on Oct. 27 in Harper Woods.
About 3 a.m., the Harper Woods Fire Department was dispatched to a possible building fire at Harper and Vernier.
The first public safety officer (PSO) reported heavy smoke showing from the roof of a two-story church.
While enroute Engine 2 requested all PSO's to suit up and requested a second alarm.
Incident command requested a third alarm due to the heavy fire conditions.
Companies initially went into an interior attack, but due to the roof conditions they were evacuated.
Only a minute after the evacuations tones were sounded the roof collapsed.
Defensive operations were fought for over four hours with assistance from Grosse Pointe Woods, Shores and Farms.
Heavy Equipment was brought in to be able to get to the hot spots.
