A two-story building on the Tennessee Church of God campground near Chattanooga was burned to the ground following a fire on December 16.
The early evening fire broke out in a building at the Signal Mountain campground, used primarily for Church of God youth camps during four weeks in the summer.
According to Tennessee State Youth and Christian Education Director Tim Cushman, the building was used for dormitory space on the first level and a chapel on the second level. Several fire departments were called in to assist with the fire that completely destroyed the 2,500 square-foot building and its contents.
Deputy Chief of Walden’s Ridge Emergency Services, Mark Serrano, reported ” when the first unit arrived on the scene, they reported heavy fire through the roofline and on the front of the building. We had to immediately conduct a defensive attack on this building.” The building was a solid masonry building with a wooden roofline. The cause of the fire is undetermined at this time and there were no injuries as the building was unoccupied.
“In addition to summer camps, the campground is rented periodically throughout the year, but no group was on site at that time,” stated Cushman. “It is very early on, so we have not heard of an insurance settlement yet, but we (Tennessee state offices) plan on re-building. There is never a good time to have something like this happen, but we are thankful it was not at a busy time or when there was an event scheduled. This does not change any plans for summer camps. It is our belief that this unfortunate tragedy will ultimately be turned for good.”