By Bonnie Culverhouse

Cause of a Friday night fire has not been released at Grace Tabernacle on the corner of Marshall and Constable streets.

Minden Fire Chief Brian Williams said he had not yet heard from the state fire marshal’s office at that point.

“I know they were there all day Saturday, along with ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms),” Williams said. “They were back Sunday, so they are still investigating.”

Williams said it is normal procedure for the fire marshal and ATF to respond to a fire in a house of worship.

The steeple is still standing, but otherwise both buildings are a loss.

“It’s the old Parkway Baptist Church,” Williams said. “It wasn’t in use, is what I’m being told. We had someone check into it to see if it was, so we could send them to another church for their Easter service.”

Williams said the initial call came in around 9:50 p.m. Friday.

“When our first unit arrived on the scene, it was to fire and heavy smoke,” Williams said. “Flames coming out of the roof. It was probably three-quarters involved at the time.”

The chief said it took fire crews quite a while to access the fire, due to renovations to the building.

“It was a lengthy access – the building had multiple roofs on it,” he said. “We had to go through a tin roof to get to a shingled roof to get through the ceiling.”

Roofs on both buildings are collapsed, he added. No one was at the church, and there were no injuries.

By 9 a.m. Saturday, the fire department was still on the scene, tending to hot spots.