Provo Tabernacle is on Fire

Major fire at Provo Tabernacle

Jim Dalrymple - Daily Herald | Posted: Friday, December 17, 2010 5:43 am
Provo --
Provo -- The fire at the Provo Tabernacle is contained but not controlled, according to firefighters.
Officials believe the historic building caught fire sometime around 2:30 a.m. Fire battalion chief Gary Jolley said that by 4:30 a.m. crews were still struggling to contain the blaze and were taking up defensive positions. Jolley said the fire department’s goal was to save the structure because of its historic nature, but added that it posed a unique challenge because of its size and the large wooden timbers used to support its roof.
However, as of 7:30 a.m., Fire Marshal Lynn Schofield said "it's  not looking good at this point." There is serious structural damage to the walls, particularly the peaks and gables.
Schofield expects to be fighting the fire for the entire day.
"I am not anticipating being able to enter the building today," he said.
The roof collapsed around 6 a.m.
“This is kind of the worst case scenario,” Jolley said. “It’s kind of bleak right now because we may end up losing the roof.”
Jolley said that it was too dangerous to initially send fire fighters into the building, but that the department’s strategy included spraying water down into the building from the rapidly disappearing roof.
“When you can’t see exactly where the fire is it’s hard to know exactly where to put your people,” Jolley said.
Jolley said that he had an nearly and entire platoon of men fighting the fire and that he was calling his off duty fire fighters to come in. He said he was also considering calling in additional help from surrounding cities to help fight the blaze.
According to fire marshall Lynn Schofield, as of Friday morning it was still too early to speculate about the cause of the fire. He said that it could be up to two days before officials could reliably say what sparked the fire.
Despite the early hour, the fire attracted a small crowd of residents, which continued to grow as the morning wore on. Many of the bystanders said they showed up because they saw the flames or smelled the smoke.
“I rode by around 3 am on my motorcycle on my way home,” said Tree Gore, 24. “It’s been burning pretty consistently since I got here.”
Schofield said that crews had closed University Ave to traffic between Center St. and 100 South. 100 South and 100 West were also closed in the area of the tabernacle. Schofield said he was not sure when the streets would reopen, but speculated that they would remain closed well into the day, if not longer.
Orange flames and a plume of grey smoke poured out of a gaping hole in the roof of Provo’s tabernacle early Friday morning.
The roof collapsed around 6 a.m.
Firefighters say the fire is now contained, but not controlled, and they expect to be fighting the fire all day. Provo fire marshal Lynn Schofield said the fire is not expected to spread to other buildings, but firefighters are still struggling to get water onto all of the fire inside the tabernacle because it is unsafe to enter the building.
Officials believe the historic building caught fire sometime around 2:30 am. Fire battalion chief Gary Jolley said that by 4:30 am crews were still struggling to contain the blaze and were taking up defensive positions. Jolley said the fire department’s goal was to save the structure because of its historic nature, but added that it posed a unique challenge because of its size and the large wooden timbers used to support its roof. The building now has serious structural damage to the walls, particularly the peaks and gables.
“This is kind of the worst case scenario,” Jolley said. “It’s kind of bleak right now because we may end up losing the roof.”
Jolley said that it was too dangerous to initially send fire fighters into the building, but that the department’s strategy included spraying water down into the building from the rapidly disappearing roof.
“When you can’t see exactly where the fire is it’s hard to know exactly where to put your people,” Jolley said.
Jolley said that he had an nearly and entire platoon of men fighting the fire and that he was calling his off duty fire fighters to come in. He said he was also considering calling in additional help from surrounding cities to help fight the blaze.
According to Schofield, as of Friday morning it was still too early to speculate about the cause of the fire. He said that it could be up to two days before officials could reliably say what sparked the fire.
Despite the early hour, the fire attracted a small crowd of residents, which continued to grow as the morning wore on. Many of the bystanders said they showed up because they saw the flames or smelled the smoke.
“I rode by around 3 am on my motorcycle on my way home,” said Tree Gore, 24. “It’s been burning pretty consistently since I got here.”
Schofield said that crews had closed University Ave to traffic between Center St. and 100 South. 100 South and 100 West were also closed in the area of the tabernacle. Schofield said he was not sure when the streets would reopen, but speculated that they would remain closed well into the day, if not longer.