El Cajon
Authorities Friday were investigating a fire that gutted a church library, causing at least $150,000 damage and possibly destroying irreplaceable books.
El Cajon firefighters said the fire, which was purposely set, began about 6:40 p.m. Thursday in the library room of an annex to the First Presbyterian Church, 500 Farragut Circle.
The fire caused extensive smoke and heat damage to the building that housed the library, but the church itself did not catch fire, Fire Chief John Traylor said.
He said the damage could be higher than estimated because of “the unknown cost of the books. There’s a lot that may be out of print and irreplaceable.”
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