UPDATED: Fire Damages Mount Pleasant Baptist Church

Posted

Credit: Prince William Fire & Rescue[/caption]

Fire and rescue units were dispatched at 4:37 a.m. Friday morning in response to a fire that extensively damaged Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Gainesville.

Firefighters arrived to a heavy fire situation with smoke emitting from the building, flames shooting form the side and back of the church, and fire through the roof, Prince William County Fire and Rescue spokeswoman Kim Hylander said.

Firefighters quickly contained the fire. The building was vacant and there were no injuries.

"Firefighters proceeded to attack the fire as they completed a search of the building for occupants; however, the building was determined to be unoccupied," said Battalion Chief Curtis Brodie.

The blaze at 15008 Lee Highway shut down traffic in both directions between U.S. 29 at U.S. 15 for several hours. As of 9:00 a.m. the southbound lane of Lee Highway was still closed.sexedate.ch

The fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire and determining damage estimates.

bristow, featured, fire, full-image, gainesville, kim-hylander, mount-pleasant-baptist-church, news, prince-william-county-fire-and-rescue, u-s-29, va