Estimated $1M In Damage From Fire At Arlington Church: Officials

ARLINGTON, VA — A fire that broke out early last Friday morning at Mount Olivet United Methodist Church on N. Glebe Rd. caused $1 million in damage to the church, according to preliminary estimates released by the Arlington County Fire Prevention Office.

Fire officials said they conducted a thorough origin and cause investigation and concluded that the fire started in the attic space. But the cause of the fire remains undetermined, officials said.

At around 2:45 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 14, the Arlington County Fire Department responded to the fire at the church in the 1500 block of N. Glebe Road.

Due to significant smoke conditions and the amount of work required to extinguish the fire, a second alarm was requested, bringing additional firefighters to the scene, according to the Arlington County Fire Department.

The fire was extinguished within 30 minutes of dispatch time, and firefighters then worked to remove material from the area of origin to fully check for hot spots or any fire extension. No one was reported injured in the fire.

Units from the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, Alexandria Fire Department, and Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall Fire Department assisted with putting out the fire, officials said.

The fire began in the attic above the music and education wing of the church, Pastor Rev. Sarah Keeling said in a letter to the church community.

On Sunday, Mount Olivet United Methodist Church held an outdoor worship due to the damage to the building from the fire. “When you hear ‘church fire,’ you get worried,” Keeling said. “There’s no assumption that it was arson.”

Keeling told WTOP that the church assumes an electrical fire burned through the church’s office building, leaving a hole in the roof. Part of the church building also saw significant smoke and water damage, WTOP reported.

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