As the Smoke Clears, Congregation Counts Its Blessings, Gives to Needy

Fire caused an estimated $500,000 in damage Saturday to the sanctuary of a newly restored Long Beach church, but shaken congregation members said they were grateful that a roomful of Christmas donations for poor families had been spared.

“The Lord doth provide,” said Darlene Thornton, one of dozens of volunteers at Bay Shore Community Congregational Church who set to work on their charity drive only minutes after the blaze was brought under control.

The cause of the fire, at 5100 The Toledo in the Belmont Shores section of the city, was under investigation Saturday but appeared to have been accidental, Long Beach Fire Department spokesman Bob Caldon said. There were no injuries.

Caldon said the fire appeared to have started in the organ chamber on the second floor of the sanctuary. The Rev. Charles E. Ensley Jr., the church’s senior minister, said a furnace vent running from beneath the organ to an attic had collapsed.

The fire was reported at 8:25 a.m., when church volunteers began arriving and saw the smoke. Caldon said the fire had been smoldering for at least two hours.

A neighbor told authorities he had noticed smoke at 6:30 a.m. and did not phone for help because it did not strike him as unusual, Caldon said.

Wooden beams in the church’s altar area were badly charred, black streaks marred its white stucco walls, and the burnt, red-velvet cushions of pews lay on the lawn outside. The organ sustained the most damage. Ensley said at least half of the organ’s pipes were ruined.

A two-month, $70,000 restoration project on the exterior of the mission-style church was completed just Friday, Ensley said, adding that the 425-member congregation had planned to begin an interior renovation next year. He said insurance should cover all the costs of the fire damage.

With a charred Bible rescued from the sanctuary laying before him in his study, Ensley nodded toward the church’s social hall and said of his congregation’s perseverance: “I think it’s a real testament to them.”

Except for the slight smell of smoke, the social hall seemed like any other the week before Christmas, with piles of food, clothing and toys sorted and ready to be delivered.

“Who needs a turkey and who needs a ham?” called out organizer Betty Outten, who began to cry as she recalled her reaction to the fire.

“My first concern was for the church, of course,” she said. “My second concern was that obviously a lot of work and love was put into this.”

Outten said that for the last seven years, the congregation has “adopted” poor families and interviewed them at length about their needs. Rather than dropping off a single meal and some toys, she said, the church provides furniture, linens, canned and dried goods, paper and pencils, clothing, cleaning supplies and first-aid kits in addition to toys and Christmas trees.

Three of the nine families adopted this year have been sleeping on the floors of their apartments, and one family’s furniture consisted of a single kitchen chair, she said. A single mother of twins will receive a double stroller, two cribs and two swings among her presents. Most of the second-hand items were donated by church families. Food and a few remaining items were purchased with $3,000 in cash donations.

“All the families got a couple of visits, phone calls and a letter reminding them that we would be delivering their things today. I was worried they’d be so disappointed,” Outten said.

The volunteers waited outside the church as fire engines reported to the scene and brought the fire under control in an hour.

“It was hell,” volunteer Ray Thorn said. “You feel so helpless.”

“We were all pretty quiet,” Outten said. “Some cried and others were patting and consoling.”

But to her “relief, great relief and joy,” smoke had cleared from the room of gifts, and the volunteers swung into action.

Ensley said services will be held this morning in the social hall, as will Christmas Eve services.