TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Highlands Today

AP Church Fire Declared Arson

Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

An Avon Park firefighter picks up equipment Friday morning after firefighters extinguished a blaze at the New Life Deliverance Praise and Worship Ministries in downtown Avon Park.

ADVERTISEMENT

By Joe  Seelig | Highlands Today

Published: December 29, 2007

AVON PARK — The curled, blackened and melted remains of vertical blinds was all that was visible from the cracked front windows of the New Life Deliverance Praise and Worship Ministries, located at 25 S. Verona Ave., that burned Friday morning.

State Fire Marshal investigators and ATF agents combed over the ruins of the church, as they determined the fire had been deliberately set.

The fire probably would have destroyed the building had it not been for Avon Park Fire Department firefighters returning from a medical call at 2:30 a.m. Friday, according to Chief Terry Feickert.

They noticed the smoke billowing from under the outside of the flat roof.

The church is located in a strip shopping center at South Verona Avenue and East Pine Street within about 600 feet of the fire department.

Feickert said most of the damage inside was caused by smoke and heat and some water damage. The fire began in a kitchenette area and climbed into the ceiling.

Feickert didn't like the looks of it.

"You can look at the pattern in there and it takes a little explaining," Feickert said. "That's why I called the fire marshal."

Three on-duty firefighters were first on scene. Then they paged out for additional personnel. Seven more firefighters arrived to pitch in.

"They did real good for three people," Feickert said. "It was a lot of work."

The fire hydrant at East Pine Street and South Verona Avenue was not hooked up due to construction. As a result firefighters hooked hoses to a hydrant near the fire station.

State Fire Marshal investigator Miles Davis said he was called away from another fire scene in Polk County. Investigators could smell something like a paint thinner inside a kitchen cabinet.

Davis looked at the three burn spots outside of the building that couldn't have damaged the building's concrete block foundation but couldn't be explained.

"It's very strange," he said.

Also there were three locations behind the building where fires had been burning.

Davis brought in a special K-9 team, Det. Greg Gilkey and his Labrador retriever Ember, that alerted Gilkey to the presence of some type of a fire accelerant, both inside the church and outside where the three smaller fires were set. Samples of the accelerant were to be sent to a lab for processing, Davis said.

"She did her job," Gilkey said proudly of Ember. "That's why she gets paid the big bucks, all the kibble she can eat."

Church minister Mary Hawthorne said she couldn't think of anyone who would do such a thing. She could think of no one with a grudge.

The church is one of four locations the church has, she said.

"The big church is at 2101 N.E. Second St., in Winter Haven," she said. "We have about 500 members there."

"I think this is our fourth year," she said.

Minister Hazel Isidore, who arrived with Hawthorne, said the Avon Park church has about 150 attendees.

"There are times when we come and it's packed and other times when it's not so packed," she said. "We have members who don't attend like they should."

The church meets regularly at 7 p.m. Sundays, she said.

She said attendance dropped for a time after Pastor Katherine Courtney got sick.

The church has a security alarm hooked up to the Avon Park Police Department. Police Cmdr. Michael J. Rowan said Friday that no alarm had sounded at the police department.

Feickert said the alarm did go off when the firefighters forced their way in through a side door. He was not sure if it had been sounding before they entered.

The Florida Advisory Committee on Arson Prevention is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonist(s). Anyone with information on this fire is asked to call 1-877-662-7766.

Callers can remain anonymous and still be eligible for the reward.

The church's pastor, Rev. Gregory L. Hawthorne, could not be reached by press time Friday for comment on where the congregation will meet until the church is restored.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT