JASPER - Ron Vickers sat on a red brick wall Tuesday morning, wiping sweat from beneath his eyes and taking the last gulp of water from a plastic bottle.
Vickers, the pastor of the First Baptist Church, had been awakened by police about six hours earlier. As he arrived at the place where he had worked - and worshipped - for the past three and a half years, he saw a red glow through the window of the fellowship hall. His church was in flames.
Immediately, he knew it was bad.
"I knew it was bad then because there was smoke coming out of windows here and up the top of the sanctuary," he said.
"... The longer we stayed ... the more smoke began to pour out (from) any opening, any crack..."
By the middle of Tuesday morning yellow tape surrounded the church and adjacent streets were blocked off as firefighters continued to douse the structure with water.
"Lots of memories for lots of people there," Vickers said when asked what he was thinking as he sat on the wall and looked at the church.
Jasper County Judge Joe Folk said the church was one of the old landmarks of Jasper and the fire was a loss to the church, the members and to the entire community and county.
"It's a sad day for Jasper," he said.
Vickers said he had mixed emotions about the fire, including sadness. There were many in the community who had been married in the church and had attended funeral services of loved ones, he said.
"But there's also hope," he said. "No matter what happens, the church is not really the building," he said. "We call it the church, but its really not the church, it's the people of the church. The building is destroyed, but the church is still here."
The church has about 500 to 600 members, Vickers said. On Monday night it was busy with Vacation Bible School.
He predicted the church would likely be torn down and rebuilt.
Vickers said the church would be a great historical loss to the community. It had been the mother church for several other Baptist churches in the area, which had grown from missions.
Large stained glass windows in the sanctuary were from Germany, he said. Although he has never seen an appraisal, Vickers said he had been told they were worth $2 million.
The First Baptist Church was organized in 1855 with 15 members, according to a Texas Historical Commission marker in front of the church.
The current sanctuary was built in 1943. Vickers said a $700,000 renovation to the building was completed in about 1996. The education area, which was not damaged, was built in the 1960s.
As firefighters continued to spray water on the site Tuesday afternoon, onlookers watched and offered support.
Church leaders from around the area with extra facilities, as well as the school district, had offered space for members to meet, Vickers said.
The blaze, which took firefighters about six hours to get under control, left about half of the entire church destroyed, officials said. The office and education space was among the damaged areas.
Firefighters from about 10 agencies in Jasper County and surrounding areas were called in. They had the fire under control by mid-morning, about six hours after the blaze started, authorities said.
Jasper Volunteer Fire Department Chief James Gunter said authorities were alerted of the blaze about 4:30 a.m.
When firefighters arrived, part of the structure was engulfed in flames, he said. Firefighters tried to make entry at different points but the heat forced them back, he said.
The heat was so intense it burned the shields of several helmets of firefighters.
He said that eventually a decision was made to go "defensive" because the heat was so intense and the lack of ventilation had become an issue.
"I don't like it," he said of the decision. "This church, it means a lot to Jasper. It's been here forever. It's an historical landmark to Jasper. The town's going to miss it but that's okay too, because we can rebuild it."
Gunter predicted it would have taken most of Tuesday and into the night to put the fire out. He said it could take weeks to figure out an exact cause.
He estimated damages to be in excess of $1 million.
Crisanto Perez Jr., the resident agent in charge of the Beaumont office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said a national response team would arrive today.
Comprised of several special agents, chemists, electrical engineers, structural safety engineers and bomb technicians, the team has received specialized training in arson investigation and post-blast investigation.
He said the team is activated for major fires or explosions when it's bigger than the local office can handle.
The bureau was involved because of the size of the fire and at the request of the fire chief, he said.
A computer, Bibles, photographs, a filing cabinet, a signed football, some records and papers were among items retrieved from part of the building Tuesday afternoon.
Winnie Maclin, 80, first started attending the church in 1950 when she moved to Jasper with her husband.
A war bride from Staffordshire in England, Maclin was this week helping out with Vacation Bible School, a portion of which dealt with her home country.
Books about England, the Royal Family, flags and a display with teapots and teacups were set up in the church as part of the program.
"Oh, look at that," she said as several blackened teacups, a teapot, spoon and books were retrieved from the church. A smoke-damaged Union Jack and other items were also eventually brought out.
"I know they're only things," she said. "We're the church. It's just sad."
