Fire That Destroyed Poway Church Ruled Accidential

The fire that caused more than $2 million in damage to St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Poway has been ruled accidental, Detective Paul Bledsoe of the Sheriff’s Department arson squad said Friday.

The probable cause of the fire, which gutted the 800-seat sanctuary, was an electrical system malfunction, he said. The damage was so extensive that it was impossible to pinpoint the exact cause, he added.

Bledsoe said the fire started in the rafters or crawl space in the southwest part of the sanctuary ceiling.

“In all probability, the fire smoldered for some time, certainly an hour or more, before burning embers fell down below and caused the smoke and flames that people saw,” said Bledsoe, the fire’s principal investigator.

Parishioners and church employees arriving for a 7:30 a.m. Mass at the church social hall nearby first spotted the fire.

When the Poway Fire Department arrived, about six minutes later, the heat from the fire had blown out windows on two sides of the church and had sent a volcanic eruption of smoke and flame through a glass skylight over the altar.

Firefighters could do little more than keep the flames from spreading to a nearby classroom building.

Bledsoe said arson was ruled out early, after the fire’s point of origin in the ceiling was identified. He said arsonists “would not have gone to the trouble of climbing up that high,” and probably would have left traces of a combustible substance.

The sanctuary had been closed for painting for more than a day when the fire broke out, according to Father Joe Marmion, associate pastor of St. Michael’s. Services were being held in the nearby social hall.

Bledsoe said the painters had been using water-based paints and solvents, which are non-combustible and not suspected of having started the fire.

Damage to the 19-year-old building is estimated at $1.7 million, Bledsoe said. Damage to contents is estimated at about $500,000.

Only 60% to 70% of the loss will be covered by fire insurance, according to Marmion. The rest will be raised in a building drive led by the church pastor, Msgr. Joseph L. Finnerty. Finnerty, who was on a trip to Ireland when the fire occurred July 24, returned this week.