Arson Suspected in Fire at Sarah Palin’s Church

Via Hotair is this breaking news from the Anchorage Daily:

Arson Auspected in Fire at Palin’s Church

WASILLA – An overnight fire at Gov. Sarah Palin’s church caused an estimated $1 million in damage, and investigators say it could be the work of an arsonist.  Firefighters were called to Wasilla Bible Church about 9:40 p.m. Friday and found flames and smoke coming out windows at the back of the three-story structure, said James Steele, chief of the Central Mat-Su Fire Department.

Five women were inside the church working on crafts, and possibly two children, but everyone escaped unharmed after a fire alarm alerted them to trouble, Steele said.

It was a major fire, the biggest the department has seen this year, and Steele said volunteer firefighters from across the region came to fight the blaze. As many as 35 to 40 people responded, he said.

Firefighters had to tear open wall spaces in the metal building to snuff out hotspots and were on the scene until after 5 a.m. today, Steele said.

“We are definitely treating it as suspicious and as potential arson at this point,” he said.

Steele declined to provide details on why investigators believe the fire might have been set deliberately, or whether accelerants were found on the scene.

The building is worth between $4 million and $5 million, and sustained an estimated $1 million in damage, he said.

A task force has been formed to investigate including people from the state fire marshal’s office, the Central Mat-Su Fire Department, the Wasilla Police Department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The Anchorage Fire Department also sent out an investigator.

The church, located off the Parks Highway on the north end of town, is one of the biggest in the Valley with a typical Sunday service drawing up to 1,000 people. Several well-known Valley residents attend the church, including Palin and state Rep. Wes Keller, R-Wasilla.

Palin’s office issued this statement today:

“Gov. Palin stopped by the church this morning, and she told an assistant pastor that she apologizes if the incident is in any way connected to the undeserved negative attention the church has received since she became a vice presidential candidate on Aug. 29. Whatever the motives of the arsonist, the governor has faith in the scriptural passage that what was intended for evil will in some way be used for good.”

Bill McAllister, the governor’s media spokesman, said he wasn’t sure when Palin last attended the church. He said she would not attend services tomorrow morning because she’s traveling to Juneau to release next year’s state budget. But the governor’s children do plan to go to church, he said.

The church’s Web site says the congregation will meet at 11:15 a.m. Sunday at Wasilla Middle School.

Church Pastor Larry Kroon, reached at home Saturday morning, said he’d been up all night and was still in a state of disbelief.

He said the church was in only its second winter in the building, and he confirmed the $1 million damage estimate.

“It’s one of those things – it feels surreal,” he said.

The pastor said he was especially disturbed someone would set the fire while people were inside.

He said he had talked to fire officials, but didn’t know of any specific clues.

“The possibilities are so wide and variable,” he said. “Someone intentionally did it, but we don’t know who and why.”

The pastor declined to speculate whether the fire was politically based or directed at Palin, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully as John McCain’s vice presidential running mate. Kroon also declined to say whether the church has received any recent threats.

Kroon was at home when he got a call from the husband of one of the women who had been in the building. By the time he arrived, smoke was pouring from the windows of a back corner of the building.

The building is equipped with a fire sprinkler system, Kroon said, but the fire was burning in the walls and took hours to put out.

Most of the damage was confined to the back corner of the building where four offices and a classroom are located, he said. There is also water damage and the entire building smells like smoke, he said.

Steele, the fire chief, said nothing has been found thus far to suggest any political motivation for the fire.

“Right now there’s no indication that we have that there’s any connection there. We just don’t have any leads at all as far as the intent or motive in this,” Steele said.

By WESLEY LOY and S.J. KOMARNITSKY Anchorage Daily News, Published: December 13th, 2008 11:03 AM