Cornerstone Church Gymnasium Catches Fire, VBS Students Evacuated Safetly

HEMET, CA — The gymnasium at Cornerstone Church Hemet caught fire Thursday morning, drawing Cal Fire/Riverside County Firefighters to the scene. With 112 students enrolled in Vacation Bible School that day, the blaze could have been much worse, according to Executive Pastor John Gehring.

Shortly after 9:30 a.m., the battery of a golf cart charging inside the gymnasium lobby caught fire at the church property in the 26000 block of Girard Street in the unincorporated County area of Hemet.

The first-arriving engine company reported smoke and fire coming from the roof of a large, single-story gymnasium and requested a second-alarm response. Additional units, including 10 engines and a truck, were requested at the scene, according to the department.

"Fortunately, the fire is confined to the gymnasium building." Cal Fire spokesperson Tawny Castro said.

Arriving crews encountered smoke and heavy fire coming from the roof of Cornerstone Church, and a second alarm was requested to help douse the flames.

Vacation Bible School was just beginning when the fire was reported, Gehring told Patch.

"The summer camp was taking place inside the main building, away from the gym," he told Patch.

Typically, the main building lobby is where that golf cart gets charged, he said. "If that fire started there, during VBS, that could have been much worse."

Instead, students were gently evacuated from the structure to the field, where they waited for pickup by their parents.

No one was injured, save for the facilities manager, who suffered minor smoke inhalation. He was evaluated at the scene by medics and declined further medical attention, according to Cal Fire.

The entirety of the blaze remained confined to the gymnasium building, which was detached from the site of the Vacation Bible School, he said.

The facilities manager tried to extinguish the battery fire but was unable to do so.

"It became a big blaze, quickly," Gehring said. The gym lobby, interior wall suffered fire and smoke damage, and the scoreboard will need to be replaced, he added. "There was a lot of smoke damage."

Most importantly, the students were safe.

Even amid the chaos, Gehring recognized the blessings of the day. "Vacation Bible School was in the main building, and we normally charge the golf cart in that main area. If that fire had happened, it could have been a total catastrophe," he said.

It was the staff and volunteers of VBS who calmly evacuated all 112 kids from Vacation Bible School so that firefighters could do their work unimpeded.

"The leader stood up and encouraged everyone to march to the ball field with their leaders; they had no idea why, but everyone got the kids safely out of there." All the parents and families were called, and 112 kids of all ages were cared for while they waited for their rides home.

"We're sad because we had to cut the VBS short on Thursday," Gehring said. "But the school will be up and running on Friday again for the last day of the session."

If you care to support the Cornerstone Church of Hemet as they work to rebuild the gym, find more information here.