In the aftermath of the fire, ‘it is well with our soul’

Many members of our NEBC family joined together on Monday night, July 9, 2007 in response to the fire that destroyed part of the fellowship hall and completely consumed the church van earlier that morning.

Pastor Chip gathered the congregation in the sanctuary to pray and sing traditional hymns. Elder Marc Jones gave a status report on the situation and Pastor Jose Garcia of Iglesia Bautista Biblica said a special prayer.

Several who attended volunteered to pray—praising God for keeping everyone safe, praying for the cleanup and restoration efforts, and praying for the work of the Holy Spirit and the advancement of God's will in individual lives and in the community as a result of this event.

Click here to read a report from the NEBC Elders & Deacons.

Click here for links to Eagle Tribune and Boston Globe articles on the fire.

The automated fire alarm went off at approximately 9:42 am on Monday July 9^th. Pastor Paul Zagrobski and treasurer Tom Borgal were in the building at the time. They both evacuated the building and noticed that the church van had exploded with fire and had caught the back corner of the fellowship hall. Shortly thereafter the fire department arrived.

All 17 of Andover’s firefighters were on scene with 4” hoses connected all the way down the driveway to Chandler Road. They quickly put the van out using foam and then cut two air vents into the roof to stop the fire from running into the sanctuary. When all was said and done, the van was completely destroyed and the back corner of the building and roof sustained serious fire, smoke and water damage. There was approximately half an inch of standing water throughout much of the building as a result of the internal sprinklers (throughout the space between the ceiling and roof) and fire hoses. Note: the Fire Chief said that if it were not for our internal sprinkler system, the entire building would have been lost.

Since the fire, there has been a significant amount of recovery/restoration activity. Within hours of the fire being put out, ServPro arrived to begin drying out the building and working towards eliminating all smoke and water damage. Representatives from our insurer, GuideOne—who primarily insures churches nationwide—arrived on Tuesday and quickly began assessing the situation and putting a plan of action into place.

At this point, the primary course of action is the elimination of water from the building. ServPro is “superheating” the entire building to 150 degrees in order to evaporate and eliminate the water that exists within all of the walls of the building. HVAC technicians are cleaning the ductwork, electricians are inspecting and addressing all electrical issues, fire safety crews are resetting the fire alarm systems and recharging the sprinklers, and demolition of the fellowship hall is nearly complete. Reconstruction will take several months and the deacons will work to determine which items to repair, restore, or replace.

But in spite of the long road ahead…church services WILL be held in the sanctuary on Sunday!

Click on the link to read the Eagle Tribune story.

To read the Boston Globe story click on the link then scroll down to the Andover section.