Dallas — Social media was flooded on Friday, July 19 with images of the historic church sanctuary at First Baptist Dallas in flames.
Thick, black smoke billowed out from the Texas Historic Landmark, a Victorian-style red brick church built in 1890. No deaths or injuries were reported, according to Dallas Fire-Rescue. It took about three hours to contain the blaze, which was reported at 6:30 p.m.
The church shared a statement of gratitude on X.
"We continue to praise God for His hand of protection on our church. We are grateful that no one was injured today and are thankful for the first responders who helped contain the fire to our Historic Sanctuary. They continue working but the primary fire was extinguished. One way or another, we intent to meet for church this Saturday."
Senior Pastor Robert Jeffress leads the evangelical megachurch, which currently has 16,000 members. Jeffress, a close supporter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, shared that he intends to hold services on Sunday despite the fire.
Former pastor O.S. Hawkins shared a photo of the sanctuary taken prior to the fire.
While our hearts are broken that we will never sit on these pews or stand in that pulpit of the historic sanctuary again at FBC Dallas we give thanks to God for the multiplied scores of thousands since 1891 who walked these aisles to give their hearts to the Lord Jesus…. pic.twitter.com/1PhOUN8t3J
Annie Gimbel
