After the Fire...

I spent this past weekend in Rhode Island. On Sunday, I got a call from our Relief Society President/visiting teacher, asking me where I was. She said she had not seen me today or this past Sunday. I was like I have been out of town and pondered why. She proceeded to tell me that our church building was on fire and that she was making sure all the Relief Society women were okay. I could not believe it. Through the day, I learned that an electrical short had caused our building to lite on fire. It occurred during a Stake Conference broadcast, but everyone got out safe thanks to the fire alarm. However, the fire destroyed the roof and caused it to collapse. My ward and others just stood their for hours as they watched the fire figthers contain and put out the blaze.

After the fire was put out, we were able to salvage all out books and the neighboring Quaker Society let us use their building to store them their. Also, many other religions reached out to us. We are so grateful for their offerings of space and support. This Sunday we will be attending church at the First Congregational Church of Cambridge. Our building will be rebuilt, but it will take over a year as the damage is extensive, considering the roof is gone. This weekend, I am going to help go through all the microfilm and microfiche that was salvaged. Below, I have posted photos I took yesterday of my building. If you want photos of the fire, email me or leave me a comment with your address and I will send you some links. It was disheartening to see my building in this state, but I am glad no one got hurt. The entrance. The building is fenced off. When I went by, they were removing the steeple, which the firefighters were able to save.

This window is looks into the cultural hall. You can see that the roof is gone.


More burned roof.The chapel roof.

The chapel roof. It is gone.

This window looks into the Relief Society room. All the windows are bordered up.

The back of the building. This is where the Bishop offices and Family History Center are located.

This is the cultural hall. Again, you can see the damage on the roof. Many of my friends told me it was surreal that one moment they were watching Stake Conference in the chapel and other rooms and the next moment, it was gone.

Debris.

Removing the steeple. The fire fighters were able to save it, but it is being removed so it does not fall down or get damaged when they begin renovating the building.