Massive fire destroys atmore Church (with photo gallery): northhescambia.com

Members of the first Presbyterian Church of At.

But the church in the Horner Street was destroyed by a massive fire late Saturday evening.

Click here for a photo gallery.

Preliminary information showed that the fire may have been triggered by a lightning strike during a heavy thunderstorm, shortly before 11 p.m. neighbors reported on several lighting strokes in the area in front of the fire.

The fire seemed to be in a community hall and classroom near the old sanctuary of the church, which had fallen into the old sanctuary in the days after the hurricane Ivan that were built after a tree.

Despite a high -pressure water flow from a ladder car, the massive fire quickly raced through about 160 feet of the attic of the building, with the church tower and the cross to break off (picture above).

Dozens of firefighters from all over the area reacted to the fire, including the fire brigade of Atmore, Barnett Crossroads, Poarch Creek, Little Rock and Nokomis from Alabama and the Walnut Hill Station of Escambia (FL) fire brigade rescue with additional personal from Florida. The Atmore Police Department and other agencies also reacted to the fire, which looked at a little more than a block from the main street of Atmor.

Firefighters stayed on site until the early hours of the morning.

There was no word about injuries.

The fire remains examined.

In the picture of the top: the moment the church tower and the cross on Saturday evening in the flames in the First Presbyterian Church of Beast. Shown above and below: first destroyed the church and tore through the attic. Norththescambia.com photos click to enlarge.