Echo Park church damaged in suspicious fire; arson investigation underway

ECHO PARK, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- An early morning fire at a 100-year-old church in Echo Park Monday may have been deliberately set, Los Angeles Fire Department officials said.

The flames broke out shortly before 2:30 a.m. at Forerunners for Christ church in the 1600 block of North Morton Avenue.

Fire officials said the blaze started on the porch of the building and then spread to the attic.

Firefighters quickly got the flames under control but not before the flames damaged the porch. No injuries were reported.

Pastor Linda Cruz rushed over to see the extent of the damage caused by the fire and says she was relieved to find the interior of the church undamaged.

Cruz was told by fire officials that the fire was deliberately set and that it started near the double doors leading into the chapel.

"You'll never know what was going on in their lives and in their minds," Cruz said, adding that she forgives them.

A neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous, says he and some friends were hanging out a nearby home when a strange man approached them around 10:30 p.m.

"He pointed his phone camera in me and some friends' faces [and] started asking if we knew of a church that he could burn down," he said. "Jokingly, we just kind of like pointed up the street, like 'Oh there's one right there,' but not knowing that the next morning the church would actually be burnt."

The House of Worship Task Force, which includes the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department's arson unit, is looking into the fire.

"Whenever we have a suspicious fire at a house of worship or something that functions as a house of worship, we do activate the task force so it brings to bare a ton of resources: law enforcement, fire specialists, federal and local jurisdictions," LAFD spokesman Peter Sanders said.

Cruz says there's a silver lining: the church will be able to continue prayer services and bible study classes Thursday morning, and conduct weekend services.

There was no word on damage estimates. Investigators will be reviewing surveillance video from a nearby gas station in hopes of finding clues. Cruz is also working to install surveillance cameras on church property as quickly as possible.