Clover church anniversary celebration ends in huge fire

CLOVER, S.C. — Members of Will of God Ministries in Clover aren't letting a devastating fire get to them.

"We just believe and trust God that this will work out. This will work out for our good," Rev. Antonio Barnette said.

[IMAGES: Church anniversary celebration ends in huge fire]

The food was ready to serve and the decorations were in place for a special anniversary celebration at the church but only minutes before dinner time, a neighbor saw smoke pouring from the windows of the family life center in the back of the building.

"The flames were two to three feet out from the wall," said Derrell Adams, who banged on the door of the church where a service was going on.

Barnette was surprised to see someone pounding on the door.

"Someone was beating on the door and I was thinking, ‘Who would interrupt services?’" he said.

Adams said people started filing out of the service not knowing what was going on.

"They came out. Some of the ladies said, ‘We cut everything off. All the power and everything was off. How could this have happened?’" he said.

Earlier, they had been cooking dinner for the church's 14th-anniversary celebration. The police report states that they had been frying chicken and the fire started in an oven.

The Family Life Center at Will of God Ministries looks like a moment frozen in time.

The whole room is black with a headache-inducing smoke smell. Tables and chairs are set up for a banquet with the buffet line still in place, carrying food that will never be eaten.

Yvonne Raymond is Barnette's mother and is also a pastor at the church.

"It was beautiful,” she said. “It was dressed up for everybody to go over there and eat their meal.”

Channel got a look inside the building on Monday and saw the kitchen is unrecognizable because a large portion of the upstairs collapsed down on it.

There were two holes in the roof where firefighters tried to vent the smoke.

The intense heat melted plastic light switches on the walls along with the TV and basketball scoreboard. Rain dripped through the damaged roof Monday, puddling on the floor.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigators were on scene Sunday and determined the fire was accidental.

The building is a total loss, yet church leaders said as long as no one was hurt, they'll look forward, not backward.

"These are just material things. They don't matter. We're looking ahead," Barnette said.

Insurance adjusters were at the church Monday but a damage estimate was not released.

Cox Media Group