Inglewood Church Burns

INGLEWOOD, TN — Firefighters battled two blazes at an Inglewood church Sunday night.

A neighbor called 911 around 4 p.m. after seeing smoke coming from the roof of Eastminster Presbyterian Church on Sunnymeade Drive. After cutting a hole in the roof, crews had that fire, which was believed to have started in the church basement, extinguished by 6:30 p.m.

The fire rekindled, however, and the fire department returned around 9 p.m. to find flames shooting through the roof of the sanctuary. Whipped by gusty winds that came in with Sunday night's rain, the fire grew and soon consumed the entire church.

Crews were still tending to hot spots at the church at 4:30 Monday morning, more than 12 hours after the first fire call.

Parishioners had been at the church celebrating the pastor's birthday, but the building was empty by 3 p.m. Sunday. No one was injured in either fire.

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