It took 10 fire departments from as far as Lafayette Parish, 50 firefighters and five hours to bring a Four Corners area church fire under control Wednesday afternoon. Several in the local community reported hearing a loud boom from lightning at 2:02 pm and at 2:26 pm the St. Mary Parish District 11 Fire Department was dispatched in reference to a fire at the church. When three fire trucks and three volunteer firefighters arrived at 2:29 pm, heavy flames were showing and the church was already 60% involved with fire.
St. Mary Parish Fire District #11 Fire Chief Clarence Clark said fire departments from the St. Mary Parish area, including Baldwin, Chitimacha and Franklin responded with mutual aid. Additional mutual aid from fire departments in Iberia Parish also responded including Grand Marais, DOM and Iberia Parish #1 which sent on and off duty personnel, as well as Cade Fire Department from St Martin Parish and Broussard Fire Department from Lafayette Parish. Additional water was needed from St. Mary Parish Water District #4, which is located in the Charenton area, as Water District #5 was running low on water pressure while the local drainage district provided heavy equipment to remove flooring from the structure to aid in the firefight. Clark added that it took 80,000 – 100,000 gallons of water to fight the fire. St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office and Acadian Ambulance also responded to the scene, although there were no injuries reported. Clark said lightning is believed to be the cause of the fire.
Clark thanked those who were involved for the collaborative effort and asked the public to keep the church family and community in prayer as the church has been part of the Four Corners community for 146 years.
