A North Carolina church was destroyed in a fire on Christmas Day, just hours after its morning service.
The Place Church in Gastonia was gutted after the blaze erupted shortly after its Sunday morning holiday mass. No one was in the building when it became engulfed in flames, and nobody was injured, according to local station WBTV.
Firefighters with the Gastonia Fire Department spent much of the day fighting the conflagration, and shared photos of the devastation on Twitter.
Pastor Ron Duncan took to Facebook to express gratitude for the support his congregation received after their building was destroyed.
"There are no words to describe the devastating circumstances that The Place Church has been through today," he wrote. "I want to thank everyone that has reached out, the many Pastors, friends and churches. You all have been amazing!! We are better together!! To my church family, we will get through this, and God will get the glory for it!! I love you all!!!"
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Duncan also told local outlet WCNC that the church had held a "beautiful" service that morning, during which he had felt the "spirit of the Lord." He got a call about the fire shortly after the service was over.
"I believe I was weak," he said. "I was numb … just trying to digest it all."
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Gastonia Fire Chief Phil Welch told the local outlet that about 50 to 60 firefighters were involved in putting out the fire.
The Gastonia Fire Marshal's Office, which is investigating the incident, said the fire doesn't appear suspicious.
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"Within the first couple of hours, we had a collapse of the roof, which complicated extinguishment, and so as darkness came on, we were able to knock it out enough to leave just two crews overnight," Welch said.
Duncan said many other churches have offered their facilities for his congregation to use following the fire, according to the outlet.
"We are resilient people, and we are going to get through this, and God is going to get the glory for this story," he told WCNC.
