Updated 1:13 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A Pe Ell church was evacuated during Sunday morning services yesterday when a fire broke out in a classroom area used for storage.
Nobody was injured but the blaze did an estimated $10,000 damage at the New Harvest Assembly of God Church on the 100 block of Mauermann Road, according to authorities.
An 11-year-old boy believed to have started the fire was arrested.
Three members of the fire department were at church when it happened about 10:30 a.m., according to Lewis County Fire District 11 Chief Michael Krafczyk.
One left and got the ambulance, another retrieved the fire engine and Assistant Chief Michael Davis used a fire extinguisher and then a garden hose through a window to knock down the flames, Krafczyk said.
The chief estimated 150 individuals were inside when it occurred. The pastor is a firefighter from a nearby district as well, he said.
“Everybody stayed real calm, got everybody out in an orderly fashion,” Krafczyk said. “Nobody got hurt, that was the important thing.”
The room that burned was across from the nursery, Krafczyk said.
A plastic tree caught fire, light fixtures melted and flames spread up the wall, according to Fire Investigator Jay Birley. The person who discovered it saw smoke all the way down to about three feet above the floor level, he said.
Firefighters got out their big hose, but didn’t need to use it, according to the chief. They borrowed a thermal imaging camera from District 16 and tore out some of the ceiling to make sure nothing more was smoldering, he said.
The storage room will likely need new sheetrock, and some of the rest of the building will probably need repainting because of smoke damage, according to Krafczyk.
A sheriff’s deputy was called as it was suspected to have been intentionally set and the deputy interviewed the 11-year-old boy, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said this morning.
The child admitted he started the fire with matches he found in one of the rooms, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown.
He was arrested for second-degree arson and booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center, Brown said.
Brown said the boy did not say why he did it, but he has had some problems with starting fires at home previously.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter