Fire consumes church in Burlington's Old North End

Pastor David Phelps planned to lead his first service Friday evening at the Free Methodist Church on Elmwood Avenue. But there will be no church service, because Thursday afternoon the church caught fire — a blaze that caused substantial damage to building.

The white clapboard church in the Old North End was built in 1903 and is uninsured, Phelps said.

Phelps, 57, and his wife, Lynda Phelps, 54, moved to Burlington a year ago from Norwood, N.Y., to renovate the building and re-start the church. He went home for lunch shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday to the parsonage behind the church and heard smoke alarms when he let his dog, Mia, outside.

No one was in the church at the time of the fire — the second blaze to strike a Burlington church since fall 2013.

"I thought it was in the basement, went downstairs — there was nothing," David Phelps said.

He opened a basement door that leads to the first floor of the building, "and the smoke came billowing out," he said. "I turned and ran fast. It freaked me out. I was lucky that flames didn't come pouring out after me."

Lynda Phelps called 911 to report the fire, but she said the blaze already had been reported.

The first report of the fire came from a detective with the Burlington Police Department who discovered the flames, Police Chief Mike Schirling said at the scene.

"The fire department's done a nice job knocking it down," Schirling told the Burlington Free Press as firefighters worked to control the blaze.

Burlington Fire Chief Seth Lasker said all 20 firefighters who were on duty responded to the three-alarm blaze, with the first crews arriving three minutes after the 12:53 call came in. Another 20 off-duty firefighters came to assist, for a total of 40 firefighters working.

"It was a very-well-advanced fire," said Lasker, who remained at the scene with members of his department at 4 p.m.

"The extent of the fire damage to the building made it very difficult for us to get inside, to get all the hidden little fires that are likely still burning in there," the chief said late Thursday afternoon. "We try to be very thorough — take off all the wall coverings and the floor coverings."

The construction of the building — the big, open space of the church, and its age — pose a "large challenge" for the firefighters, Lasker said. The steeple is leaning, making access difficult.

The fire department has had no opportunity to start its investigation, Lasker said. He said late Thursday afternoon he no idea what the cause might be.

David Phelps said he shampooed the carpets in the church Wednesday night. A fan was on to dry the carpet, and he wondered if an electrical short in the fan might have been responsible for the fire.

The steeple could have acted like a chimney to pull up the smoke, he said. Columns of smoke towered over downtown Burlington, drawing spectators to office windows and parking-lot rooftops.

Although David Phelps had yet to lead services in the Free Methodist Church, two other church groups were using the building for services, Lynda Phelps said. The Free Methodist Society had held Bible study groups in the building, where new tables and chairs were set up in the sanctuary, Lynda Phelps said.

"They needed a pastor to come renovate the church, and we volunteered," Lynda Phelps said. "We said yes, and we came."

The couple's 3-year-old granddaughter, Charlie-Sue Smith, was at their home when the fire started. The family was eating lunch together: eggs, potatoes and toast for Lynda Phelps, pork sandwich, fried potatoes and corn on the cob for David Phelps. They had just put Charlie-Sue down for a nap when David Phelps discovered the fire next door. They roused her and carried her from their home directly behind the church.

David Phelps said firefighters worked to protect the home immediately upon their arrival at the scene.

The couple said Thursday as smoke poured from the steeple windows that it was too soon to know what the fire would mean for the future of the church.

"I love it here," Lynda Phelps said. "These people are just awesome. This is a really great place to live. ... I'm thinking that I can use this to bring about good."

The fire was under control about an hour after it started. The steeple was charred near its top, and a second-floor roof was damaged and partially collapsed.

The Burlington Electric Department said 220 customers were without power late Thursday afternoon as the department had turned off power in the area near the fire at the request of the fire department.

In October 2013, the steeple of the College Street Congregational Church was set ablaze by an arsonist. The steeple was lost, and there was substantial damage to the rest of the church. The arsonist later accepted a plea deal and was deported.

Contributing: Michael Townsend, Free Press.