MANOR TOWNSHIP, Pa. — At the Kittanning Church of Christ on Blainey Road in Manor Township, you can see a blackened door leading into the bottom level.
Church elders said that’s where a fire started earlier this week and believe this entire situation could have been so much worse.
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Pictures sent to Channel 11 show the damage to the basement; specifically, the two classrooms that the fire tore through on Wednesday afternoon, just hours before evening services were to begin.
“We had some members that were in the church building. They smelled some smoke, called 911, got out of the building real quick,” said Brian Steffy, a church elder who has been a member of the congregation for decades.
Steffy believes the church would have been destroyed had someone not been there to call 911, calling it a blessing, among others.
“Luckily, we have a concrete floor that separates the basement from the top floor, and the fire was all contained down to the basement,” Steffy said. “The flooring we just placed two weeks ago; it’s all toast.”
Restoration work is well underway, as crews continue to gut the bottom floor. There is a lot of smoke and water damage throughout the auditorium and other parts of the main level. But Steffy said the church looks at every setback as an opportunity and is grateful for the support they continue to receive.
“We’re looking forward to the outpouring of love throughout the community, throughout the world basically. Friends of ours from Brazil, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Florida – they’ve all reached out to us,” Steffy said.
Easter Sunday services will be held at the Kittanning Township Fire Department at 10:30 a.m. Church leaders are still weighing their options for temporary service locations after that.
To help the church recover from this fire, you can contact church elders through its website and Facebook page.
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