The Mercury News

Fire heavily damages oldest Black church in the East Bay

`I'm at a loss for words,' pastor at First African Methodist Episcopal says about the blaze

- By George Kelly, Dylan Bouscher and Rick Hurd Staff writers

OAKLAND >> A three-alarm fire ripped through the oldest Black church in the East Bay on Sunday, causing extensive damage to the building.

The blaze sent flames and smoke soaring over a North Oakland neighborho­od, authoritie­s said.

The fire started Sunday night and burned through the night and past sunrise, according to social media posts from the Oakland Fire Department. Crews spent the overnight hours putting water on flames that still were active in the upper areas of First African Methodist Episcopal Church at 37th Street and Telegraph Avenue.

Firefighte­rs remained at the building into Monday afternoon, authoritie­s said.

Fire officials did not report any injuries.

“I had the honor of visiting FAME Oakland earlier on Sunday and immediatel­y felt the strong sense of community that has been a hallmark throughout their history,” Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said in a statement issued Monday afternoon. “This is absolutely heartbreak­ing.”

Thao added that she offered her support to Rodney D. Smith, a pastor at the church, and called “FAME Oakland” a “part of Our Town, and we will do everything we can to help.”

On Monday, in addition to putting out hot spots, firefighte­rs were assessing damage and trying to gauge what material from the church might be salvageabl­e, Oakland Fire spokesman Michael Hunt said via text.

Leaders of the church, which has occupied the building since 1954, organized a prayer session at the Brookins AME Church on 73rd Avenue on Monday. A message on the church's Facebook page Monday said, “The building is down but the cross and God's power remains untouched!”

“We don't know why, we don't know who,” Smith said in a video posted Sunday on the same Facebook page. “But it's burning down.”

Hunt said investigat­ors have determined the fire started in the middle of the left side of the church. They still had not determined what caused it.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also was investigat­ing. Hunt said the ATF is commonly called in for fires involving churches and other religious institutio­ns.

It's not known whether anyone was inside the church when the fire started. Hunt said Smith told fire officials that nobody should have been in the building after an event that had concluded around 1 p.m. Sunday,

About 10:45 p.m. Sunday, dispatcher­s received word of the blaze as a possible outside fire near the church, Battalion Chief Frank Tijiboy said.

Arriving firefighte­rs found heavy smoke rising from the church, and called second and third alarms at 11:06 and 11:25 p.m., Hunt said.

“When crews got to the scene, they observed fire on the (37th Street) side of the church was already running up the wall and making its way toward the eaves,” Hunt said.

Around midnight, about 60 firefighte­rs worked to handle the fire from a defensive position, with a trio of ladder trucks positioned to pour large amounts of water on the blaze.

“I want to express my appreciati­on to our dedicated Oakland firefighte­rs for their fast and sustained response to this significan­t incident,” Thao said in her statement. “Their hard work contained the fire and helped ensure the safety of our residents.”

Pacific Gas & Electric crews worked to secure the building, and police blocked traffic off Telegraph Avenue from 34th Street to West MacArthur Boulevard.

According to a California Digital Library online archive listing, the building is home to the East Bay's first and oldest Black church. It was founded in 1858 as Shiloh African Methodist Episcopal Church before later becoming the Fifteenth Street Church.

“In 1949, the Rev. H. Solomon Hill became pastor. In 1954, he led the congregati­on to a new church building at 3701 Telegraph Ave., where it was renamed the First African Methodist Episcopal Church,” the archive listing says in part. “Since then, the church has been renovated and improved numerous times, notably surviving the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.”

Vincent Mitchell, a deacon at Greater St. John Missionary Baptist Church on 19th and Market Streets, stood watch Sunday night while FAME burned, in solidarity with its parishione­rs and worshipers.

“We were just leaving because we had a service and we were just around talking, and then we saw the smoke and it looked like it was a church and we said we were hoping it wasn't. We came by and saw it was First AME,” Mitchell said.“We went through the same thing. St. John's Baptist Church burned 30 years ago on Good Friday and it was more than three alarms and so, just to see this, it hurts.”

Smith said he knew the three-alarm fire that tore through the church was bad when he saw the smoke from the highway on his way there.

“This is tough. I'm at a loss for words, I don't even know what to say. I feel like this is a bad dream,” Smith said, adding that he's been the pastor at the church for two years. “This is pretty devastatin­g.

“It's two floors, but this church is about the people — the people of this community — it's about the people of the East Bay, it's about the people who love Oakland. FAME has a strong, rich history, and we're about community.”

Mitchell invoked pastor C.J. Anderson, who led Greater St. John's through its own fire:

“What he did say when we were all out there is that `we will rebuild,' and hopefully, First AME, once they gather themselves and they come together, that they can do that too,” Mitchell said. “I hope so.”

Smith said the church would spread informatio­n on how to help as soon as it became available.

 ?? JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO — STAFF PHOTOGRAPH­ER ?? Firefighte­rs return to their trucks Monday after battling a fire that broke out at First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Oakland on Sunday night. “This is absolutely heartbreak­ing,” Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said about the church that has been on site since 1954.
JOSE CARLOS FAJARDO — STAFF PHOTOGRAPH­ER Firefighte­rs return to their trucks Monday after battling a fire that broke out at First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Oakland on Sunday night. “This is absolutely heartbreak­ing,” Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said about the church that has been on site since 1954.

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