Churchgoers escape fire; roof collapses

Churchgoers escape fire; roof collapses

Churchgoers escape fire; roof collapses

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — More than a dozen people attending Sunday School escaped a church fire on the city’s near northwest side.

Crews with the Indianapolis Fire Department responded to Bethany Rembrandt Church, 908 Edgemont Avenue, around 11:16 a.m. Sunday to smoke showing from the church’s roof.

The adults who had been inside — from 10-20 people — had evacuated when crews arrived. They had reported a smell in the building. The church furnace had been turned on for the first time this season on Saturday, and someone was cooking in the kitchen, so they churchgoers had believed the smell to be related to one of those two, according to IFD.

No one was injured in the fire, IFD said.

The church sustained damage estimated to be about $100,000. The fire traveled the length of the roof, and around 12:30 p.m., the entire roof collapsed. The eastern wall of the church was pushed about 6 inches away from the structure, IFD said.

The fire remained under investigation.

IFD provided these photos of the scene: