Fire destroys Beaumont church

Fire crews remained on the scene during the morning hours of July 26 after a fire completely destroyed a Beaumont church.

According to Beaumont Fire Department (BFD), the fire was reported about 10 p.m. July 25 at the Central City Baptist Church, located at the corner of Franklin St. and Avenue E. BFD Capt. Terence Simon reported firefighters sprayed water from the ground and from the ladder to contained the fire from reaching neighboring homes.

Fletcher Elementary School is located across from the church.

All that remained was mostly the church’s brick walls.

Eric House, moderator for the Golden Triangle Baptist Network (GTBN), said they had recently brought in some missionaries to help get the church started back up.

Church members were working at the church Monday in preparing for a reopening after it’s been closed for at least a year because of COVID-19.

“It’s a total loss but we’ll get it restarted back up,” said House.

Lizz Jelsma, Communications Assistant for GTBN, said within the past year, GTBN has been working on a church plant now called Iglesia Bautista Alianza en Marcha –  a Hispanic church plant.

“The previous congregation stopped meeting last year but we have been working with the Gutierrez family on the new church plant there for the last six months,” she added.

Jelsma said the congregation, under Pastor Jose Gutierrez, had been meeting in the building the last three Sundays and previously held a Vacation Bible School event at that location for the community.”

Jelma said the current plan is to worship in a member’s home a few blocks away until another location in the community is found for temporary use and eventually rebuild on that location.

She said the church as been at the location for a least 60 years or longer.