A fire on Thursday night, Nov. 28, destroyed a historic church in downtown Buford.
At 10:02 p.m., firefighters with Gwinnett Fire & Emergency Services responded to a report of smoke coming from the roof of First Pentecostal Church of Buford at 15 E. Moreno St. N.E. Multiple calls to 911 had reported the smoke.
Firefighters arrived at 10:06 p.m. and found smoke coming from a vent hole at the top of the sanctuary of the large three-story church on a basement. Crews deployed a fire hose and entered the building to search for the source of the smoke. During the search, firefighters encountered fire in the attic section above the sanctuary.
According to Capt. Ryan McGiboney, public information officer with Gwinnett Fire & Emergency Services, as crews began to attack the fire, conditions rapidly changed, including a sudden intensity of heat and fire growth. Recognizing dangerous conditions, fire crews withdrew from operations inside the building and exited the structure. Portions of the church then began to collapse.
Additional units were requested to support defensive fire attack operations and protect surrounding structures. Firefighters used multiple tactics to apply water to the fire, including ladder trucks and multiple fire hoses to bring the fire under control at 2:30 a.m.
Additional fire ground operations included searching the area for victims and establishing connections to multiple fire hydrants nearby. Bystanders confirmed that everyone had safely exited the structure. Utility workers disconnected the electrical service to the entire building. However, a structural collapse prevented firefighters from disconnecting the natural gas service.
No injuries were reported at the scene. A member of the congregation’s leadership told firefighters that two young male church members had observed smoke pouring out of the building and attempted to put out the fire with fire extinguishers without success. The two individuals escaped from the church and called 911.
Fire investigators on scene said that though they could not rule out an electrical source as the cause of the fire, they did not suspect criminal activity.
Equipment and personnel dispatched to the scene include five engines, four ladder trucks, one squad, two med units, three command staff vehicles, one air and light, a fire investigator and a public information officer.
