Community Corner

Church Saved From Inferno

A church and an apartment complex threatened by 25-foot-tall flames are spared.

Firefighters were the saviors of one church in Temecula today.

St. Thomas of Canterbury Episcopal Church was saved from an inferno that came within a few feet on the property.

The fire started around 3 p.m. on Avenida de Missiones in a brush- and tree-filled field adjacent the church and the Temecula Creek Village condominium complex, according to Cal Fire Capt. Scott Moore.

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The fire quickly spread to 2.64 acres in the 100 degree heat, the captain said.

When firefighters arrived, they found about an acre ablaze, with flames stretching 25 feet into the sky, he said.

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About 20 firefighters rushed to the scene and kept the fire from the church and a nearby condo complex.

Nobody was injured, no residents were evacuated and the only damage was a melted plastic fence, according to Moore.

A dirt path surrounding the apartment helped keep the flames from the buildings, Moore said. "It went out once it hit that area," he said.

'A tsunami of fire'

The flames came at the apartments fast and tall, sending residents running in fear.

"I came over and saw a small (fire) and just started pulling alarms to get everyone out," said Steve Brewer, the condo complex's maintenance supervisor. "It was coming so quick, we just started to run."

Though the fire was down a hill from the complex, the flames towered over the heads of onlookers.

"It looked like a tsunami of fire," said Steve Mendoza, 14, a resident of the condos.

He was walking with two friends on the dirt path surrounding the complex when he saw smoke belching from the field of thick, dry brush.

The size and grandeur struck resident Scott Miller, 14, with awe. "It looked like a castle," he said.

Mendoza watched the flames melt a fence near the dirt path. "I saw the flames licking the back of that fence," said Mendoza, pointing at the drooping planks.

Tinderbox field

The field next to the church is a constant problem, said Brewer, the maintenance supervisor.

The field caught fire at least seven times so far this year, he said.

He reported the problem to the city several times, he said. Once the city mowed the weeds, but the real problem -- dozens of large, dead trees -- remains, he said.

"We keep trying to get them to clear it," he said. "If they would clear this out, this wouldn't be such an issue."

Suspicious cause

The cause of the fire was under investigation today, the fire captain said, though several residents said they saw some suspicious things going on.

"I saw some kids out there," Brewer said about the area where the fire started.

Condo resident Shauna Sullivan was outside when the first hints of smoke wafted into the sky. Moments later, she saw a young man running from it, she said.

"One kid jumped the fence coming this way," she said. "We stopped him and said, 'You have to call 9-1-1,' then he took off running."


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