For the first time in history, a working temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has burned almost to the ground.
When firefighters riding three fire trucks and more than 100 volunteers finally extinguished flames engulfing the Apia Samoa temple Wednesday night, the only remnants were the exterior walls, the steel girders of the steeple — and the angel Moroni on top.
He was smoke-stained and on a forward slant but still there.
"That was a significant thing to the members and others," said Elder Jerry King, half of a Pacific islands public affairs LDS missionary couple who was in Apia meeting with temple engineers.
There were no injuries.
The temple, originally dedicated in 1983, was undergoing renovation and expansion to include a baptismal font. It was scheduled to be rededicated in October. The cause of the fire was not immediately known but is suspected to be related to the construction.
About 7 p.m., workers discovered flames on the western side of the 14,560-square-foot building, where sealing rooms and the celestial room were located. They initially tried to put the fire out with a hose and buckets of water but quickly realized it was deeper into the building than they had thought. Firefighters arrived shortly afterward and succeeded in dousing the blaze three hours later.
While a final decision has not been made, the temple will probably be rebuilt. Three officials from church headquarters are headed to Samoa to investigate the blaze and recommend future action.
The news quickly reached Samoan-born Utahns. Highland resident Mark Ahmu, for example, whose great-grandfather donated the land on which the temple was built, remembers visiting the temple grounds as a child.
"The members are pretty faithful down there," he said. "They will do whatever it takes to help rebuild."
Non-LDS Samoans, too, want to contribute. "We've had a great outpouring from others who want to help," Elder King said.
The burning of the temple was a big event in the small community of Apia — the city and its surrounding villages contain only about 35,000 residents. Hundreds gathered to witness the blaze, choking traffic on the one road that connects temple, town and airport.
"There was quite a congestion," Elder King said.
The Apia temple served the two Western Samoan islands of Upolu and Savai'i, as well as American Samoa. The nearest temples are now in Fiji, Tonga and Tahiti.
While no other working temple in LDS history has been destroyed by fire, there have been other incidents.
The abandoned Nauvoo temple was significantly damaged by an arsonist in November 1848.
Lightning ignited the top of the St. George temple in August 1878 and destroyed the steeple before being extinguished by rain.
And a fire in the Logan temple caused about $100,000 in damage in December 1917.
In the case of the St. George Temple, the fire became a local legend. Brigham Young had never liked the short, squat original temple steeple, and when the fire occurred — after his death — officials sighed and concluded that President Young was directing temple architecture from the afterlife. The new, taller steeple was built according to his stated desire.
Rain also minimized damage in Samoa. The Apia temple was part of complex containing a meetinghouse, mission offices, temple patron housing, a service center and the church's College of Western Samoa. But just as the fire emerged from the temple's roof it began to rain, wetting the grounds and roofs of adjacent buildings.
"Even though embers were billowing out of the structure, it didn't harm the trees or other buildings," Elder King said. "A small miracle."
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