Explosion jolts Indiana church

Martinsville, Indiana
Thursday, December 20, 2007
A boiler in the Martinsville, Indiana First Church of the Nazarene exploded causing major damage to the building shortly before noon on Tuesday, December 18. According to the Martinsville Reporter-Times, Martinsville Fire Department firefighters determined that while the boiler had exploded, there was no fire in the building. There were no injuries. Church secretary Beverly McKee said, "It felt like a bomb” and blew her forward at her desk. Janitor Melvin Clark said the boiler had been acting up and was not heating the sanctuary. He said he checked the boiler, saw it was operable and noticed the thermostat was not at the temperature it should have been. He adjusted the boiler and it started working. The Reporter-Times reported janitor Patty Clark said it felt like an icebox inside the building in the morning after being very hot the day before. She was in the hallway when the boiler exploded and said she saw smoke coming down the hall. Patty Clark and McKee both stated the boiler had just been worked on. The company had to come back last week because the boiler still was not working. "The Lord is with all of us, so we didn't get hurt," she said. Senior Pastor Stacy Allen said the force of the blast damaged the Christmas tree set up in the front of the sanctuary. He said at the time, most of the people in the building were working on preparing nearly 300 food baskets that were going to be given out. Morgan County Community Corrections workers were working on the food baskets. According to firefighters, the boiler is located in the one-story section of the east side of the church. The blast bowed out the south and north walls of that section, damaged a center support wall in the main building and knocked down a small section of the brick wall near the boiler's location. Debris from the blast went up the furnace pipe and landed on the roof. The glass in the door of the east section was blown out and many of the walls inside the one story section also were damaged. Allen said he didn't know where church services would be held. "I don't know what caused it," he also said. Martinsville Fire Department Captain Keith Buis said, "We've had a boiler malfunction. Before they got everybody out, they had an explosion. We're still investigating." Buis said the building incurred major damage and that the gas and electricity had to be shut off. He said the boiler room contained breaker boxes. He said everything in the boiler room is destroyed. "They'll have a lengthy cleanup," he said.