Highlands United Church blaze ‘suspicious’
Dismayed members of a northeast Edmonton congregation gathered on the sidewalk outside their church Friday following a fire that police are calling “suspicious.”
The trouble started shortly after a preschool teacher arrived early Friday in a room that the school rents in the lower level of the Highlands United Church at 11305 64 St.
“She heard someone stomping around upstairs,” the church’s board chairman, Wayne Youngward, said Friday.
The teacher went to investigate and found a man running out of the church. He appeared to be carrying something under his arm, Youngward said. She briefly gave chase, but the burglar made a getaway on a bicycle.
That’s when she noticed smoke coming from the church office, and called 911.
Fire crews arrived on scene about three minutes after the call came in at 8:39 a.m. Six units responded and had the blaze under control by 9:17 a.m., Edmonton Fire Rescue spokeswoman Suzzette Mellado said Friday.
Youngward said they haven’t been able to get back inside to determine what, if anything, was taken from the office by the intruder.
He said it appears the office and the boardroom on the floor above it have been destroyed. The church has contacted its insurance company, Youngward said.
The extent of the damage to the church and the cause of the fire remain under investigation by Edmonton Fire Rescue.
The church remained taped off late Friday morning as fire investigators worked inside. A group of parishioners gathered on the sidewalk, looking up at the damage. A charred interior could be seen through broken windows.
Plans for a church picnic and barbecue planned for Saturday were also in flux in the wake of the blaze, Youngward said.
Edmonton police spokeswoman Cheryl Voordenhout confirmed that an initial report of a break and enter at the church came in at about 8:30 a.m., and that a suspect was reported fleeing. The report of a fire followed a short time later. The fire has been deemed suspicious, and police arson investigators have been notified.