A raging fire tore through a historic Texas megachurch Friday night, collapsing its red-brick chapel built in 1890.
The blaze began just after 6 p.m. in First Baptist Dallas’ secondary chapel known as the Historic Sanctuary, which is tucked between the church’s larger worship centers.
The structure partially collapsed just after 7:30 p.m., Dallas-Fire Rescue said, according to local reports.
It took 60 units until 9:30 p.m. to contain the 4-alarm fire, but by then the chapel had “largely collapsed.” No injuries were reported and the cause is under investigation.
“We are grateful that no one was injured today and are thankful for the first responders who helped contain the fire to our Historic Sanctuary,” First Baptist Pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress posted on X Friday night.
“They continue working but the primary fire has been extinguished,” he added. “One way or another, we intend to meet for church this Sunday.”
Jeffress left the church shortly before they got word of the blaze, he told Fox 4 news.
A week of vacation bible school for 2,000 kids ages 3 to 12 had just concluded earlier in the day. “They were all gone,” the pastor said, adding, “I’m grateful that the church is not bricks or mortar or wood — it’s people.”
The sanctuary was the main place of worship for the congregation until 12 years ago when it moved to one of the larger centers in its complex.
“It holds a lot of memories,” Jeffress said, including his own baptism there at 6 years old. He has led the church since 2007.
O. S. Hawkins, an author and former First Baptist Dallas pastor, shared a photo on X of the historic, stained glass sanctuary from before the fire.
“Our hearts are broken that we will never sit on these pews or stand in that pulpit of the historic sanctuary again,” he wrote, but expressed gratitude for the thousands that passed through its aisles for more than 130 years.
Smoke filled the night sky and could be seen as far away as White Rock Lake, six miles away in northeast Dallas, the Dallas Morning News reported. Onlookers said they could feel heat from the flames half a block away.
