| Hickman’s West Baptist Church gutted by fire | | Posted: Wednesday, January 23, 2013 9:53 pm
| By KEVIN BOWDEN
Staff Reporter
An early morning fire today destroyed one of the largest churches in Hickman, Ky.
West Baptist Church on Broadway was fully engulfed by flames by the time firefighters from Hickman arrived on the scene shortly after 7.
The Union City Fire Department sent its aerial truck and three firefighters to the scene to help battle the blaze. They left Union City around 7:30 and were still on the scene as of presstime today.
The early morning fire stretched across both floors of the two-story church and even extended into the basement area. Firefighters battled bitterly cold weather conditions as they used aerial trucks to fight the fire from above. On the ground, firefighters worked their way around the parking area behind the church and from the street in front of the church as they tried to douse the fire by shooting streams of water through windows and over crumbling walls.
Thick smoke was visible from as far away as the Hickman Country Club, and on the scene thick clouds of smoke billowed into the sky once the church roof was consumed by the fire.
Firefighters fought the frigid weather conditions as well as intense heat and thick smoke plumes as they worked to put out the fire from all angles.
There were no reported injuries as of presstime today.
Several small groups of onlookers were gathered around the fire scene to watch the church burn. The street in front of the church was covered by fire hoses and a thin coat of ice from all the water used to combat the blaze.
Hickman Fire Chief Jackie Duncan was on the scene with a full crew of firefighters who kept the blaze contained. West Hickman Baptist Church is situated in a residential area just west of the Fulton County Courthouse. The sign in front of the church was damaged by the heat and the main front and rear entrances to the church were charred black from the fire.
Staff Reporter Kevin Bowden may be contacted by email at kmbowden@ucmessenger.com.
Published in The Messenger 1.23.13 | | | | |
