Fire caused substantial damage on Monday morning to the Cathedral of Praise church at 1402 Roanoke St.
Pastor Claudius Pratt II said his wife, Jae, and their 12-year-old son were in the Education Building when someone kicked a door in and alerted them to a fire in another part of the church. Both got out of the building uninjured.
Chattanooga firefighters received the alarm at 11:30 a.m. and responded with six fire companies. Battalion Chief Thaddeus Morton said the building used as a fellowship hall was engulfed in flames when the first firefighters arrived on the scene. It did not take too long before Chief Morton called for a second alarm response, which brought in an additional six fire companies.
Later, the 25 cadets from the fire academy were brought in to provide additional manpower. With the addition of the cadets, roughly 70 firefighters were involved in the 2-alarm blaze.
The firefighters poured water on the structure from all sides in an attempt to suppress the flames, and to keep them from spreading to the church
