Abandoned Danville church destroyed in three-alarm fire

DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA) — An abandoned church in Danville was reduced to rubble overnight after a three-alarm fire broke out.

The church was at Fowler Avenue and Clyman Lane and the fire started around 9 p.m. It was an all-hands-on-deck situation for the Danville Fire Department, and they needed even more help from the surrounding area.

“Our Chief arrived on the scene first, saw smoke, realized that it was the church, which is a large structure,” said Captain Neil Yelenick. “Immediately called for a second alarm, which brings in another crew, and with the workload and the humidity last night, it escalated to a call back to the entire department.”

A total of 35 firefighters were needed to fight the fire, and Chief Aaron Marcott said nearly all resources of the DFD were exhausted over the next 12 hours.

In addition to the high humidity conditions that plagued firefighters all night, Marcott said the church’s design also hampered firefighting efforts. There was heavy timber construction and a metal roof that made it difficult to access the flames. At one point, the decision was made to suspend firefighting efforts in order for an excavator to tear the roof off.

This subsequently caused the fire in void spaces to grow in size. Knowing that the church would pose a hazard to the community if it was allowed to remain standing, the decision was made to raze the building.

Owens Excavating began tearing the church down while firefighters kept the fire around the excavator under control. Once the building was brought to the ground, the fire was then extinguished.

Yelenick said the church had been abandoned for some time and had no utilities. No one was hurt.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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