Fire destroys church

Residents of Atlanta awoke to smoke and fire rising from Downtown Atlanta Wednesday, as roads were blocked around the downtown area as firefighters muscled to get a fire under control from a church/thrift store that started around 4:30 a.m., September 25, at True Believers Family Life Church on 219 E Hiram St. in Atlanta.

Fire/Police Chief Robin Betts said an Atlanta police officer noticed heavy smoke coming from the building and notified the fire department. The fire crews tried to go inside to extinguish the flames but were forced to battle the fire from the outside.

No one was in the building at the time of the fire, so there were no injuries sustained other than a hurt ankle from one of the fire fighters battling the flames.

Betts said the fire department had a limited supply of water because of International Paper the company that supplies the city’s water had shut down the water supply on Tuesday for maintenance forcing the fire department to utilize the cities reserved water. The low water pressure and the inability to get to the fire earlier rendered the building useless.

Chief Betts said that even if they would have had an adequate water supply it probably still would not be a factor in keeping the building.

The one-story building was most recently a furniture store and then a carpet store before it became the church and thrift store.

Originally the building was originally built in 1936 to be May’s Grocery store, reported Robert Steger whose family had built the structure.

According to Betts cause of the fire remains under investigation, but because they had to use a back hoe to be aggressive and maintain the fire, they may never find out what originally caused the fire.