Church fire causes $40,000 worth of damage

The kitchen at Faith Lutheran Church caught on fire Tuesday afternoon. It started after cooking oil was left unattended on the stove.

By the time Glacier Fire Station crew arrived, Assistant Chief Ed Quinto discovered that the fire had been put out but smoke was still wafting through the doors.

“The flames had gone up to the tongue and groove ceiling, so the ceiling itself is all charred up. There are holes in the walls where we had to check for extension and there’s dried chem — not only in the kitchen itself but the adjacent rooms because it got all over the place,” Quinto said.

That’s dried chemical, the solution that comes out of a fire extinguisher. No one was hurt during the fire. The Head Start program that meets at the church had just let out.

Quinto said the program will have to relocate as the church is cleaned up and repaired. Damages are estimated to be around $40,000.

Editor’s note: Ed Quinto’s title has been corrected. Quinto is assistant chief, not chief. 

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