‘Heartbreaking’: Gastonia church destroyed after Christmas Day fire

GASTONIA, N.C. — Firefighters with the Gastonia Fire Department responded to a church fire on the 4700 block of York Road on Sunday.

The fire started at about 3 p.m. at The Place Church after Christmas Day church services were done.

“The last service was a great service,” said Bishop Ronald Duncan. “We had a beautiful Christmas service.”

The bishop got the shocking news about three hours after the service.

“We wall went home to get ready for our Christmas parties, and we got a phone call that devastated us,” Duncan said. “That devastated our family and church family.”

Duncan rushed to the fire and knew the church was destroyed.

“It was definitely heartbreaking,” Duncan said. “We’ve had 15 years here at this location. It shook us to our core.”

Duncan said about 20 churches have offered to help.

“The church isn’t the building. It is the body of the people,” he said.

Gastonia firefighters were at the scene overnight and into Monday morning checking for any hot spots.

Chief Phil Welch said they are trying to find the cause of the fire that started in the sanctuary area.

“Our fire marshal was here last night and this morning,” Welch said. “We will still do more interviews. We were affirmed they weren’t using candles yesterday.”

No injuries were reported.

This is a developing story, check back at wsoctv.com for updates.

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