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Note #7944 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Nashville church fire wasn't set
03399
September 22, 2003

Nashville church fire wasn't set

Investigators blame bad wiring, not arson, for $2 million blaze

By Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE - Federal investigators have concluded that the Sept. 17 fire that
destroyed much of Second Presbyterian Church in Nashville was not a case of
arson.

According to the Rev. Jim Kitchens, the church's new pastor, investigators
from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) believe the
early-morning blaze started in wiring in an office and spread under the floor
to the sanctuary.

The ATF, which investigates all suspicious church fires, has turned the
investigation over to local authorities.

The three-alarm fire destroyed the sanctuary of the 450-member church and
damaged offices and instructional space. Damage is estimated at nearly $2
million.

On Sept. 21, the congregation gathered for worship on the church lawn,
singing in the opening hymn, "There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded
whole."

Starting on Sept. 28, services will be held in the fellowship hall, which
sustained only minor smoke damage.

The Nashville Tennessean newspaper reported that some significant objects
survived the fire, including the pulpit Bible, which was waterlogged but
intact, and a wooden cross that hung from a beam in the church, which on
Sept. 21 was propped against a tree, draped in yellow police tape.

Kitchens learned about the fire while en route to Nashville from his previous
home in Davis, CA. He is scheduled to begin his ministry at Second Church in
early October - almost exactly 10 years since his Davis Community Church was
seriously damaged in a fire.

"I'm coming already prepared with the skills set needed to minister in this
situation," Kitchens ruefully told the Presbyterian News Service.

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has sent $10,000 to Second Church to help
with its immediate needs. Other Nashville-area churches, including at least
one synagogue, have offered assistance of various kinds.

Donations may be sent to Second Presbyterian Church, Rebuilding Fund, 3511
Belmont Blvd., Nashville TN 37215; or to the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee,
ATTN: Second Presbyterian Rebuilding Fund, 318 Seaboard Lane, Suite 205,
Franklin, TN 37067.

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