A Sunday night fire at Oak Grove Church caused some minor damage to the facility, but firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze fairly quickly and the church is not expected to close during repairs.
Lamar County Fire Coordinator Kyle Hill said fire teams arrived at the church, which is located at 4915 Old Highway 11 in Hattiesburg, at approximately 10:45 p.m. September 24. The cause of the fire, which was limited to the church’s tower, has not been determined, but no foul play is suspected.
“We’re not real sure what the cause was; there’s very few isolated things it could be,” Hill said. “It was something accidental, whatever it was. There’s nothing suspicious at all.”
Oak Grove Fire Department was assisted at the site by Southeast Lamar (Pine Ridge, Beaver Lake and Rock Hill), Central Lamar, Northeast Lamar and Hattiesburg. Firefighters were on the scene until approximately 1 a.m.
“It wasn’t really that big of a fire, but we had to use the aerial trucks from Northeast Lamar and Hattiesburg to be able to gain access to it because of how high it was,” Hill said. “The way the structure was built, there is no flooring in that part of the structure up high, so you couldn’t put a fireman in the area and give him access.
“So it was difficult to get to, but it wasn’t a very large fire at all. There was really nothing to burn there (except) a little bit of plywood and two-by-fours. Most of that was a steel structure.”
Hill said repairs to the church should be minimal.
“They should be fine,” he said. “We caused some residual damage from water flow, and in the bottom of that tower area – which is the entrance to the church – there’s some some damage from that and debris falling.
“But the main part of the church itself is still fine. The fire was definitely contained to that area right there on the front of the tower.”
