WILLIAMSTOWN, Mo. – The rural church building and the parsonage of Providence Baptist Church here were separately leveled in fires Thursday morning, Jan. 4. No injuries were reported.
The parsonage is located a quarter-mile from the church. The glow of both structures was visible for miles by responding crews.
Canton and the Monticello base of the Canton R-V Fire Department were paged at 5:07 a.m., and upon arrival they found both structures fully engulfed. Western Lewis County Firefighters in LaBelle were called on mutual aid, as were Lagrange and R-IV Fire in Ewing to provide extra manpower and a water tanker shuttle.
On Jan. 4, at 9:35 a.m., Providence Baptist Church posted the following note on its Facebook page: “As many of you are aware we have lost our church building and parsonage to an early morning fire. As heartbreaking and devastating as this is God is so good in the simple fact that nobody was hurt. Our church family is strong and resilient!! God is in control!!”
The fires are under investigation of the Missouri Fire Marshall’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) to determine cause and to determine if it was a hate crime, because a church was involved.
Firefighters were on scene until about 2:30 p.m. Both are deemed total losses.
Stay tuned to The Pathway for updates on this story.