Fire at church ‘suspicious’
Authorities looking for leads after early morning blaze in Oakland Park
OAKLAND PARK — The pastor of a storefront church that was the scene of a suspicious fire early Wednesday — where someone scrawled cryptic messages on the walls — was baffled about who could have targeted the place ofworship.
“Only God knows what happened,” said Ebel Laine, of the Refuge Family Community Baptist Church. “I never had trouble, I’m here 22 years in Florida. And I never had trouble with anyone in the congregation.”
Laine, 60, said the church has about 35 members who gather for services on Sunday mornings and in the evenings on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
“I had a service last night,” Laine said of his church that is at 2500 W. Oakland Park Blvd. “We closed up at 10 o’clock, and there was no problem.”
The fire happened just before 6 a.m. Wednesday in the Los Arcos Plaza, officials said.
Oakland Park Fire Rescue Division Chief John Preston described the fire as, “small, in the back of the church,” and added that “the cause is under investigation as possibly suspicious.”
“I’m here 22 years in Florida. And I never had trouble with anyone in the congregation.” Ebel Laine, pastor of Refuge Family Community Baptist Church
A message written inside a church rear door said, “I waited so long to repay the favor. Call the police and Naomi is dead. Boom!!!!”
It was one of several writings inside the storefront that included other names, and that could indicate the vandalism was a hate crime. But authorities have not yet said it was being investigated as one.
The messages “Relate to religion and to hatred toward religion,” Preston told reporters. “The pastor doesn’t know anyone with those names.”
In the darkness before dawn, firefighters were opening up the front of the church and a beauty salon next door, to clear out smoke.
Preston said the church, salon and another neighboring business were damaged by smoke and had the power turned off.
“The firewas inside the church, in the rear,” Preston said. “There was an indication of a break-in and that obviously raises a red flag.”
The state fire marshal and the Broward Sheriff’s aggravated felony unit are investigating the fire as a crime scene and it may take a few weeks to find the cause, he said.
Laine, reached by cellphone, was outside the church late Wednesday morning, watching sheriff’s deputies and investigators work, including from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“Only God will know what I am going to do [next],” Laine said.
His neighbors in the shopping center are all “very nice persons,” he said.
“I am not scared,” Laine said. “This is America. Anything happens, the local police can find out what happened.”
The Broward Sheriff’s Office asks anyone with information to call Broward County Crime Stoppers, at 954-493-8477. The organization will accept anonymous tips and will pay up to $3,000 for information that leads to an arrest.
Staff writer Wayne K. Roustan contributed to this report.