Bangor officials have condemned a nondenominational church building severely damaged by fire Wednesday morning.
Borough Manager Stephen Reider said Thursday that Bangor’s code enforcement representative, Barry Isett & Associates, placed signs at the front entrance of the church noting it is unsafe to enter.
Officials continue to investigate what caused the fire at 125 S. Main St, he said.
“It is still very fresh,” Reider said. “I haven’t been made aware of anything new.”
No injuries occurred, and no one was in the church when the fire erupted, Reider said.
Officials with Liberty Fire Co. 2 did not respond to telephone messages seeking further information.
The church, which was built in the early 1900s, is owned by Gethsemane Ministries, with Lighthouse Ministries leasing the space, according to Reider. Officials with Gethsemane could not be reached for comment.
Gethsemane Ministries founder Mike Harvey told lehighvalleylive.com that the future of the building is uncertain. He also said Lighthouse Ministries has found a new place in Bangor for worshippers to congregate. The Morning Call could not confirm that information.
The Lighthouse Ministries pastor, accompanied by two men, was carrying food and bottled water out from the church around noon Thursday.
“I’m not interested, sir,” said the pastor, who declined to give his name, when asked for a comment.
Borough resident Steven Julbe, who is also a Lighthouse member, said he was awakened around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday to someone yelling the church was on fire.
“When I walked out of the house, it was like one big cloud of smoke,” said Julbe, who lives several blocks away. “There was smoke above [the church], and when I got down here, the whole thing was on fire.”
Officials cordoned off the perimeter of the fire-damaged church with yellow emergency tape. Flourescent signs declaring the property condemned and unsafe hung at the main wooden doors to the church entrance, in between purple door hangings that say “Gather with Grateful Hearts.”
Initial photos and video shared on social media showed flames and smoke pouring out of the top of the church. Flames could be seen from the roof of the building, and the smoke plume was visible for miles. Fire crews used a tower ladder extended over the roof to fight back flames.
Traffic had to be detoured around South Main Street as firefighters fought the blaze for hours.
The property had belonged to Salem Evangelical Church before it was sold to Gethsemane in 2000, Northampton County property records show. A 1929 cornerstone is on one side of the main, stone building, with a large stone tower. Behind the front is a brick structure that was severely damaged.
A working railroad track runs within feet of the church’s South Main Street entrance.
“As far as I can figure out that part of town is where a lot of early Bangor things happened,” said Marc Blau, treasurer of the Slate Belt Heritage Center. He said besides the track, the Bangor train station and two hotels stood nearby.
The church was likely built to accommodate residents and travelers in that part of the borough, Blau said.
The fire brought out dozens of first responders from throughout Northampton County, according to Liberty Fire Company’s social media page. In addition, the department thanked Council members Marissa Donnelly and Marc Sperling for providing assistance, food and water.
Contact Morning Call reporter Anthony Salamone at asalamone@mcall.com
