OTTAWA — Ottawa Fire Department and Kansas Fire Marshal investigators were to begin combing through the remains of the Bethany Chapel Church, 135 S. Poplar St., which was devastated by a fire early this morning. The fire caused heavy damage to the front of the church and to the basement. At 145 years, the historically-black church is one of the oldest in the city. Ottawa police noticed smoke coming from the basement and first floor of the building and alerted firefighters, Fire Chief Jeff Carner said. The fire appears to originated in the basement and spread to the first floor when firefighters arrived, he said. One wall collapsed. Before the wall fell, firefighters were pulled out of the two-story church building by Carner. There were no injuries. There was no immediate cause or estimate of damage. However, church documents stored in the basement were likely destroyed, said The Rev. Armogen Walker, the church’s pastor. His office had a library of books worth $20,000 to $30,000 as well as photos and other priceless memorabilia, he said. He said he was told that the fire had spread into the office although he was hopeful that some items, especially the photos and other memorabilia could be salvaged. The church is one of the oldest in the city and the congregation had planned to celebrate the 145th anniversary of the church in two weeks, said Richard Jackson, a church deacon. The church building was moved to its present site in the 1920s, he said. The congregation will decide later today where to meet now that the church is unusable, Walker said. However, within a couple of hours, the congregation had already received offers from several churches to hold services, he said. The church will rebuild, and the congregation will be stronger for the experience, he said. “The Lord’s going to keep us … she will go back up, we will rebuild Bethany Chapel,” Walker said.
Monday, Aug. 4, 7:30 a.m.; updated 8:30 a.m.; updated 10 a.m.
