Officials are investigating whether lightning sparked a fire that destroyed part of a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship church in Mount Holly, N.C., Thursday.
That’s what WSOC television reported Friday afternoon from the scene of the blaze at First Baptist Church. However, officials have yet to declare what ignited a part of the church located on South Main Street.
The building was 90 years old, and just last year the congregation celebrated its 100th anniversary, the station reported.
Several church members watched as flames and thick, black smoke bellowed from the sanctuary, which was destroyed. Many cried as they watched, a TV reporter said.
CBF North Carolina issued a call for prayer for the congregation.
Church member Julia Benfield told WSOC that her son was one of the firefighters on the scene, and that he had charged into the building to battle the blaze.
“As soon as I got here, I was told he was in the building, and that didn’t shock me at all,” Benfield told the station.
Firefighters retrieved two Bibles from the pulpit “bringing community members to tears.”
Firefighters were able to contain the blaze to the sanctuary, leaving other facilities intact. The fire remains under investigation.