Arson suspected in blaze at historic Kansas City church

A blaze over the weekend at a historic Kansas City, Mo., church, whose congregation is mostly from South Sudan, is being investigated as arson.

“They’ve determined that this was a set fire,” John Ham, a spokesman for the Kansas City office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told the Kansas City Star Sunday.

“Setting a fire in a house of worship is a federal crime,” said Ham, noting that the arson determination was made by both federal and local investigators.

The fire was discovered shortly after 9 a.m. local time Saturday at the Harlem Baptist Church, which is the gathering place for the United Christian Fellowship, according to the paper.

Both the front of the church and a stairwell area leading to the basement were fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, according to the outlet.

The fire was determined to have started in the area of stairs — which “gave way,” Ham told the paper.

“That fireman that was on it was not hurt, thankfully. They were able to pull him out,” said Ham, who noted that though the blaze was brought under control within minutes after, there was still significant damage to the front of the building.

Though the sanctuary itself was not burnt, Ham said it suffered smoke and water damage.

Founded in 1907 as the Harlem Tabernacle Church, the church is the last original building of the Harlem community, whose name stemmed from Northern European immigrants who said the area resembled that of the Netherlands city, Haarlem, according to the paper.

Anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).