ST. GEORGE — Fire destroyed racks of canned and dry goods stacked inside a room at the Bishop's Storehouse, a welfare and service center here owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The fire, which was reported Tuesday evening, consumed the attic trusses and roof of a storage room that was still under construction, said St. George fire marshal Kevin Taylor.
"There's no reason to believe the fire was suspicious in origin," said Taylor. "There was some construction being done in that area that day, but we don't think the fire was intentionally set." There's no evidence of that." The fire quickly spread from the roof to the attic area, which was difficult to access because of the high ceiling, said Taylor.
An air conditioning unit was destroyed when it crashed through the burning roof, said Taylor, who said structural damages to the building could rise as high as $100,000. The canned and dry goods stored in the building were ruined, he added. An official estimate of damage is still being completed, said Kevin Nield, manager of LDS Bishop Storehouse Services. "It will be a matter of time before we have an estimate. We still have to do clean up and repairs to that portion of the building," said Nield, who happened to be in St. George when the fire broke out. He was at the storehouse on Tuesday evening, watching firefighters do their job, and returned the following morning to view the area in daylight.
More than a dozen volunteers showed up at the storehouse before 8 a.m. Wednesday asking Nield how they could help get the center back up and running for business, he said.
"They immediately went to work preparing another area of the building so service could be given to those in need," said Nield. "There was no interruption of regular service, and that's because of those great volunteers. Service will go on as scheduled."
Nield also heaped praise on the St. George Fire Department and its volunteer firefighters who rushed to get the fire under control within 30 minutes of the initial call for help.
"It was just an excellent response. They were there within a few minutes and had it under control so we were able to avoid more damage," said Nield. "The mood last night was rather somber. This morning (Wednesday) we had a lot of energy to help get service instituted again and we did that, even with the smell of fire lingering in the air."
Taylor said several of the 30 volunteer firefighters who showed up for duty that night were fighting their first fire.
"We put 18 volunteers on about eight months ago and got them trained. I think they did a good job," said Taylor. Six engines and one ladder truck were called to the scene, he added.