SUFFOLK, Va. — A fire broke out in an older church in the downtown area of Suffolk early Sunday morning resulting in one person receiving relatively minor injuries.
According to a fire department spokesperson, their emergency communications center was contacted at around 4:20 a.m. with a report of a fire at the New Jerusalem Church Ministries Apostolic, in the 400 block of East Pinner Street. The first unit arrived within five minutes.
Now, the first worship services of 2023 are canceled. It’s not the way the church’s pastor, Bishop L. J. Harper, wanted to start the new year.
“Lord, Lord, sure bringing that in in a rough way,” Bishop Harper said.
Bishop Harper said a fire broke out on the church's second floor just a few hours after his congregation rang in the new year together.
“We left last night around 12:30 a.m. and we did the old year out, new year in,” Harper said.
Suffolk Fire and Rescue Crews started fighting the flames around 4:30 a.m. Investigators found two people inside at the time. They said one of them went to the hospital for smoke inhalation but is recovering.
Harper said he was letting them stay at the church temporarily.
“They were homeless, outside, nowhere to go,” Harper said. “So, I let them go back there and I gave them six months to a year, no rent, no nothing. Just try to get them on their feet to where they can move on.”
While the church’s sanctuary is smoky, the fire didn’t spread from the second floor. One fire crew launched an aggressive interior attack while other crews performed a primary search of the church. The fire crews were able to isolate the fire to the second floor of the church.
“God had a hand on me and on this church,” Harper said.
Harper said he’s ready to start the cleanup process and get his church back up and running.
“It means the world to me, this is my world,” Harper said. “And helping people is my world.”
Investigators are still trying to figure out what sparked the fire. Bishop Harper said he will start cleaning up the building tomorrow.
Investigators said the fire was placed under control shortly after 5 a.m.