Fire strikes Living Word Church of God

CLOVIS - Investigators are attempting to determine the cause of a structure fire Monday morning that badly damaged the inside of a church east of Clovis.

Living Word Church of God Associate Pastor Bonetta Hutson said the fire was reported around 10:15 a.m. and that "the inside (was) just gone" after a blaze that responders put out in about 45 minutes.

"Everyone is safe and no one got hurt, but our church was totally engulfed in flames," she wrote online. "Please keep us in prayer."

Per protocol for a church building fire, investigators from the state Fire Marshal's Office and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were en route Monday afternoon "to assess the evidence and assist with a determination of the cause of the fire," said a news release from Curry County Sheriff Wesley Waller.

"We are 99 percent sure that it was an electrical fire," Hutson said.

Davena Stevens, daughter of Living Word Church Pastor David Stevens, said she woke up soon after 10 a.m. on Monday and saw smoke outside the church in front of her house.

"At first I just thought it was a dust tornado thing, so I called my dad," she said Monday afternoon. "Once they opened the doors, all the smoke just poured out. You hear about church fires, but you don't expect one at your own church that you've been going to for nine years."

Internal damage to the church was extensive, with flames reaching the attic, damaging several ceiling joists and leaving a small hole in the roof near the steeple.

Davena Stevens said property damaged inside the church included some of her own items, including her laptop, her purse and her Bible.

"I hope my Bible is OK," she said.

Responders Monday included units from Clovis Fire Department, Clovis police and the Curry County Sheriff's Office.

The church is located east of the intersection of 21st Street and Humphrey Road, and roadblocks restricted public access until Monday afternoon.

"The good side is that other churches have responded (and offered help)," Hutson said. "We'll figure out how we can continue to have church elsewhere on Wednesdays and Sundays until we can rebuild. But we will rebuild."