Wolverhampton city centre church up in flames after suspected break-in
Fire ripped through offices and the hall of an historic church in Wolverhampton city centre after a suspected burglary.
Smoke was first seen billowing out of the rear of the Grade II listed Darlington Street Methodist Church at 11.45pm on Saturday.
It took 60 firefighters two hours to control the blaze that had spread across two floors of the landmark building with up to 12 crews remaining at the scene until 4am.
Nobody was in the church at the time and both School Street and Darlington Street were closed while the fire was tackled. The fire affected mainly offices and corridors on the ground floor and the first floor hall.
The chapel, soup kitchen and shelter are unaffected.
Investigators think it was started by an electrical fault.
Rev Lavender, Minister of the church and Superintendent Minister for the Wolverhampton Methodist circuit, said: "??My office has been turned over. Somebody has been going through drawers looking for things.
"??The keys had been taken to try to get into the safe which also appears to have been subjected to an attempt to get into it with a screwdriver.
"??I am not saying it was arson, but it would be an extraordinary coincidence if the two were not connected."
The blaze that started minutes before midnight on Saturday evening, wrecked the first floor church hall rented by the Asian Christian Fellowship of Wolverhampton. They had to turn away worshippers and cancel their first Sunday service in almost 40 years.
Floor joists were burned through and the sound system destroyed. The altar and pulpit were both blackened by smoke but survived.
Pastor Hari Kaul said: "??I am devastated by the destruction. This will cause a lot of disruption to our services because the hall will not be fit for use for a long time."
Watch Commander Tony Bucknall for Merridale Fire Station who led the operation, said: "??We managed to get ahead of it and put in a fire break that stopped it spreading to the church itself. It was vitally important that we did that because it is an historic building that means a lot to the community around here."
