First Baptist Dallas hopeful it can save portion of historic sanctuary

DALLAS - First Baptist Dallas is still working to learn what of the church's historic sanctuary can and cannot be saved after a devastating fire last Friday.

Fire officials say a fire in the historic sanctuary's basement grew into a four-alarm blaze in the heart of Downtown Dallas.

The cause of the fire still has not been determined.

Dallas Demolition crews were at the building on Tuesday to help with cleanup and removing debris.

The future of the building is still up in the air.

Church leaders say they are hopeful they can save three of the building's exterior walls.

"A lot of unanswered questions. A lot that needs to be done, but that is in the process," Executive Pastor Ben Lovvorn said on Tuesday.

No one was injured in the fire.

However, more than a century of memories and memorabilia have been reduced to rubble.

"The main thing you can be doing right now is to pray," Lovvorn said.

First Baptist says there is more than just the building from the 1890s that was damaged.

"Not only was the historic sanctuary affected by the fire, but, really, our entire campus was covered in smoke," said Lovvorn.

The campus has been closed since Friday and all activities have been suspended for the week.

The church says they are actively working to prepare for service at the new worship center on Sunday.

First Baptist says they are making progress with the worship center, but there is still much to be done.

"I'll tell you one thing: One way or another we are going to come together somewhere for worship this coming Sunday," said Lovvorn.

Damage from the smoke and flames forced last Sunday's service to be held at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

Drone Video Shows Damage at Church

FOX 4 viewer Elias Canales shared drone video of the damage at First Baptist Dallas.

The video from above the historic sanctuary shows much of the building was damaged in the fire.

While the exterior walls to most of the building are still standing, the video shows significant damage to the interior.

First Baptist Dallas

First Baptist Dallas was started in 1868, but the red brick building, known as the historic sanctuary was not built until 1890, according to the Texas Historic Commission.

The church became a historical landmark in 1968.

It became a second sanctuary when the church opened a new facility in 2013.