Nov. 30--BREWSTER -- Cape Cod Bible Alliance Church in Brewster was destroyed by an early morning fire today that the state fire marshal's office says is a case of arson.
Jennifer Mieth, spokeswoman for the state fire marshal's office, confirmed that the fire was intentionally set.
The Brewster Fire Department was notified by the church's automatic fire alarm at 2:58 a.m. When firefighters arrived minutes later, they found flames engulfing and towering over the large building, Orleans Deputy Fire Chief Anthony Pike said at the scene.
The department upgraded the blaze to three alarms by 3:30 a.m., calling firefighters from as far away as Wellfleet and Yarmouth, he said.
At one point, three ladder trucks were shooting water at the roof of Bible Alliance, which overlooks Route 6A. One ladder was still shooting water at the roof six hours later.
By then, the roof of the sanctuary had caved in entirely, and a truck had pulled down one wall to get at the smothering areas buried by the debris.
The cleanup crew and firefighters carefully picked away at the remains because they did not want to destroy any evidence, Orleans Fire Chief William Quinn said.
By late this morning, heavy equipment leveled any sections of the structure still left standing.
At least two of the members of the Bible Alliance stood by in the early morning hours.
"It's surreal," said Jeff Kobold, a church member. "There's a reason for it. We don't know what it is. But we have the faith that there is a purpose to it."
The Bible Alliance, which was incorporated in 1978 and the building dedicated in 1987, is affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance.
The members travel all over the world to set up other churches and help the needy, Kobold said. A group of about 20 members just returned from the Dominican Republic, said Lindsay Strode, owner of Cape Organics and a member.
Strobe watched as a truck tore up the landscaping he had worked on in the last year for the church.
"That's OK," he said. "I know where to get more plants."
The church offers a popular Kids Night on the first Friday of the month, which is attended by 60 or 70 children, many of whom are not church members, Strobe said.
It's the open and friendly attitude of the membership that first attracted Strobe to the church about 16 years ago, he said.
"Circumstances don't define who we are," Strobe said. "If you let circumstances define you, they become overwhelming. We'll be OK."
The water used to fight the fire flooded a basement classroom of the Family School, which is located down the hill from the church. About four inches of water filled the classroom, said Marcia Galazzi, the school's owner.
The Brewster Department of Public Works dug a trench to divert the water away from the school, she said..
Galazzi had workers drying the building, and she only delayed the opening of the school until 10 a.m.
The church, enlarged and renovated in 1997, holds 300 in the sanctuary and has about 320 members, said the pastor, Myron Heckman. Average Sunday attendance runs about 250, he added.
Heckman has been the pastor there for 34 years, from when it was founded in 1978. The members met in a rented space in Orleans for 10 years before buying the land in Brewster.
"It holds a lot of memories," Heckman said. "A lot of baptisms, weddings, just the milestones of life. But it's a building and we have got to hold those things loosely and hold on to people a lot more tightly."
Mieth, with the state fire marshal's office, said there "is nothing to indicate this (fire) has anything to do with the ongoing investigation of a series of arson fires in southeastern Massachusetts."
On November 26, two fires in Halifax and Plympton were declared arson by the state fire marshal's office. On November 27 there was another arson fire, this one at 488 Quincy Avenue in Quincy, according to a press release.
Copyright 2012 - Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.
