It took close to three hours Wednesday but the Los Alamos Fire Department extinguished a major fire at New Beginnings Fellowship Assembly of God Church at 112 East Road.
Deputy Chief Justin Grider confirmed the fire was out around 1 p.m. It looked as if the fire was out earlier but LAFD was contending with hotspots in the rafters of the chapel.
Grider said the chapel is a total loss. The main church received smoke damage. There also was an area in the back of the church that burned and received significant smoke damage.
“We think the fire started in the chapel,” Grider said. “But we don’t know for sure. It is still under investigation.”
Grider said there were a couple of investigators on the scene, including the State Fire Marshal.
“We are checking the structural integrity so it’s safe enough for the investigators to check out what happened,” Grider said.
Grider added this morning investigators worked until dark Wednesday and resumed work this morning at 9:30. “They go from end of the church to the other,” he said. “It’s a very tedious process.”
Grider expects the investigation to take a couple of days because it is a church or a house of worship. “We have to check everything.”
