LDS church torched in W.V.

WEST VALLEY CITY — Fire roared through a church here early Tuesday causing at least $300,000 in damage. Officials believe the fire may have been intentionally set.

The fire at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meetinghouse near 6400 West and 3500 South was reported at 1 a.m. by a man who was up feeding his horses, West Valley Fire Capt. Bob Fitzgerald said.

When crews arrived, they found heavy smoke coming from the church and heavy fire inside, Fitzgerald said.

The fire appeared to have started in a clerk's office or in the hallway outside the clerk's office, he said. About 20 percent to 25 percent of the church was destroyed. The rest of the building suffered heavy smoke damage.

The meetinghouse serves the 9th and 16th wards of the Salt Lake Hunter West stake.

The 850 to 900 church members who use the meetinghouse will be out of their building for a couple of months, Fitzgerald said.

The circumstances surrounding the fire make it suspicious, he said. The fire started in an area where an electrical fire would not have occurred. And the fact the building was closed by 5:30 p.m. Monday also makes it look less like an accidental fire, Fitzgerald said.

"It's just sad we have to deal with this kind of stuff," said Clay Hatch, second counselor to the stake president. "I don't feel any anger. It's just unfortunate. It appears desperate people do desperate things. It's very sad."

Investigators said they found an open window and a broken window that someone could have crawled through. One of those windows was in the back of the church facing a field, which would have made it easy to enter the building undetected, Fitzgerald said.

An initial inventory of items inside the church showed no important records were lost, Hatch said.

Officials said they don't know if the fire is related to recent church vandalisms in Sandy.

On May 26, an LDS meetinghouse at 1880 E. 9800 South suffered severe damage at the hands of vandals. Two weeks earlier, the Blessed Sacrament Church, 9757 S. 1700 East, suffered minor damage from vandals. No arrests have been made in either case, and investigators do not believe they are related.

Clay said he is not aware of any threats made against his meetinghouse. Regardless, he said the fire will not stop members from worshiping. "This is just a blip on the screen," he said. "We will move on."

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