Fire heavily damages church facility on Veach Road

May 19--On Wednesday morning, the Rev. Kenny Rager was looking at the destruction caused by a fire that heavily damaged Life Community Church's offices, in the 2600 block of Veach Road.

The fire, which was reported about 7 a.m. Wednesday, caused extensive damage to the church facilities.

Rager said the church holds services at Owensboro Community & Technical College, but took possession of the office facility on March 1 and had been renovating it ever since.

"The wall it started on, I don't know even how it started," Rager said. The building had just gone into use by the church.

"We had our first Sunday night service (here) on Sunday," said Taran Rager, the church's worship leader.

Steve Leonard, a battalion chief for the Owensboro Fire Department, said the fire was determined to have started in a lounge area of the building, with the ignition point being on the end of a large sofa. There was heavy smoke billowing from the building by the time firefighters arrived, Leonard said.

The building sustained heavy fire, smoke and water damage. Firefighters had the blaze under control in about 25 minutes, but were on the scene for about two hours, Leonard said.

The cause of the fire is undetermined, he said.

"To my knowledge, there had been extensive remodeling to the building," Leonard said. "... There had a meeting there (Tuesday) night, so there were people in the building."

The building was being rented by the church. Tammy Hale, a member of the family that owns the building, said church members had just completed a "total makeover" of the offices.

"It just looked wonderful," Hale said. An insurance adjustor was coming to evaluate the damage, she said.

"He'll probably be here all week, trying to determine if it's a total loss, and I think it is," Hale said. "... It could be worse. I've gone through worse. But I was so happy for them."

Kenny Rager said he had just preached about the book of Ruth, concerning "believing in God's plan, instead of being bitter." The fire will not affect the church's ability to continue holding services at OCTC, he said.

"Our contents for worship were in a trailer, nothing for Sunday morning will be hindered," he said. "It's going to be OK. We'll move forward. It's just part of our story."

James Mayse, 270-691-7303, [email protected], Twitter: @JamesMayse

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