DALLAS — Plumes of black smoke were seen rising through the Downtown Dallas skyline Friday evening.
Dallas Fire Rescue (DFR) responded to a fourth-alarm fire just after 6 p.m. at the First Baptist Dallas Church at 1707 San Jacinto St. When firefighters arrived, they were met with heavy smoke and immediately started attacking the blaze. Officials said at least 100 firefighters were on scene for more than three hours.
DFR confirmed to WFAA that the "structure involved is the secondary chapel." Chopper 8 captured the moment when the spire toppled over as crews battled the flames.
Vacation Bible School concluded in the historic sanctuary on Friday. It’s used for funerals, weddings, and auxiliary events that don’t require the main sanctuary.
Most firefighting operations began significantly shutting down between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. Saturday morning, according to DFR. Overhaul companies were on scene throughout Friday night into Saturday morning to ensure safety and to continue extinguishing hot spots, according to fire officials.
DFR said Friday evening they believed the blaze started in the basement. Deacons told WFAA they fear the church’s library, beneath the historic sanctuary, has been lost. It held a majority of the church’s records, they said.
Officials said no one was injured in the fire.
In an update Saturday, DFR said that the building was inaccessible due to the lack of structural integrity. Additional drone footage was captured and a notice was issued to church representatives, DFR said. The church will be required to install barriers around the historic sanctuary, provide 24-hour security, and provide a structural engineers report within 24 hours. If the structure is ruled unstable, then it will be demolished, fire officials said Saturday afternoon. DFR said it will maintain a presence on scene until the structural integrity is determined or the structure is demolished.
DFR said Saturday the fire was being classified as undetermined, however, "we reserve the right to change or supplement this finding based on new or additional information which may subsequently be determined."
Pastor Robert Jeffress, who was elected pastor of First Baptist Dallas in August of 2007, spoke to reporters as firefighters continued to fight the fire, and said he had been baptized and ordained as a minister in that very church.
"I had just left the church a little bit after 6 p.m. when we got word that the church was on fire, our historic sanctuary," Jeffress said, emotional.
Jeffress grew up at First Baptist Dallas. He was baptized in the Historic Sanctuary at age 9, ordained there when he was 21, and holds many memories of the church.
The building has been around since 1890, Jeffress said and was the home of the church before they moved into a new center about 12 years ago.
"We had just concluded vacation bible school with over 2,000 kids," Jeffress said. "They were all gone. God has protected us through all of this."
Jeffress said they don't know the cause of the fire at this time.
"I'm grateful that the church is not bricks and mortar or wood, it's people," he said. "And the people of God will endure. First Baptist Dallas will endure."
He said he's holding onto faith that they can salvage something. "We're not going to let those flames have the final say," he said. "Friday night this place was engulfed in flames. Friday has passed. And on Sunday we're going to proclaim the power of God."
Others gathered outside of the fence set up by DFR to see what was left of the church.
Michael Burks grew up in the church. That's where he also met and married his wife. "Looking at it now, I'm not sure how you're able to restore it," he said.
Moments before speaking with Jeffress, WFAA's cameras captured the reaction to parts of the building collapsing:
Services on Sunday will be held at the Dallas Convention Center. Rather than the usual three services held onsite at First Baptist Dallas – including a band-led worship service that was still being conducted in the historic sanctuary – there will be one joint service at 11 a.m. CT, church officials said in a message sent to their congregation. The service will be livestreamed at icampus.firstdallas.org.
"One way or another, we intend to meet for church this Sunday," a church spokesperson told WFAA.
Residents from as far as Irving have reported being able to see the fire on the Dallas skyline.