Explosion Levels S.C. Church
ANDERSON, S.C. --
Investigators in Anderson County are trying to determine what caused an explosion at a church Sunday night.
Authorities said the explosion happened around 10:15 p.m. at Shekinah Holiness Church off Highway 29 South.
According to officials with Anderson County Emergency Preparedness, the explosion could be felt several miles away. The force of the explosion blew the entire roof off the church, fire investigators said.
Anderson Count Fire Chief Billy Gibson said, "Our dispatch center was overwhelmed. We started out with about a dozen calls. Before it was, over we had about 40 calls reporting this explosion.
Initially, investigators said a 300-gallon propane tank had exploded, but they later said the tank was not the source of the explosion. The propane did ignite, however, and fire crews let the fuel burn out.
Church Explosion-82.7186434.44387308930091522205007
Gibson said, "We haven't ruled anything out at this time but haven't pin-pointed anything either. We're very early -- very preliminary."
The force of the explosion scattered cement blocks everywhere.
The building is a total loss, firefighters said.
Pastor Donald John said he and his brother founded the church and started building around 1980 or '81.
Johnson said, "The name of it is Shekinah Holiness Church. Its name means 'the light of god.'"
Copyright 2010 by WYFF4.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.