Harrison Street church destroyed by arson
Blaze reported around 8 a.m. at vacant church south of downtown
Phil Anderson
Residents just south of downtown Topeka said they had heard "a lot of crazy stories" about an abandoned church building at 1600 S.W. Harrison.
The word on the street was that the brown brick building was haunted. The rumors were so strong that curious people often made their way inside to see just exactly what lurked within the walls.
Other people went inside the building not to look for ghosts, but to seek a place of shelter.
"I'd see people going in there all the time," said Patience Lee, 19, who often visits friends who live in the neighborhood. "Some of them were spirit hunters. Lots of homeless people went inside there too, almost everyday."
The old Harrison Street Church won't be a magnet for ghost hunters, the homeless or vandals anymore — not after it went up in flames Sunday morning.
Topeka Fire Department Investigator James Vollintine announced late Sunday that the cause of the fire was arson. The blaze started on the east end of the first floor.
The spectacular two-alarm blaze was reported at 8:01 a.m. By the time first-arriving crews made it to the scene, flames were shooting out the east side of the building while heavy, black smoke was rolling out of the roof.
Topeka Fire Department Battalion Chief Ron Hufford said that because of the intensity of the fire, the poor condition of the building and the proximity of houses to the church, the decision was made to attack the fire from a "defensive" position, meaning crews hooked up to nearby hydrants and battled the blaze from the exterior.
In all, 11 fire companies responded to the blaze — seven engines and four trucks. Additionally, one shift commander, two battalion chiefs and an investigator were on the scene.
The fire was under control by around 9:45 a.m., leaving fire crews to douse hot spots inside the two-story building.
Only a shell of the century-old structure remained after the fire, as the roof and support beams had collapsed.
Hufford said a couple of nearby homes sustained "very minor" damage as a result of the fire.
Additionally, several homes in the area were reported to be without electricity after the fire.
Authorities at the scene were discussing what to do with the skeleton of the building that remained after the fire, as it posed a potential safety hazard.
Demolition crews on Sunday afternoon began the process of knocking down the remaining walls.
The Topeka City Council on Aug. 13 voted to tear down the building, but no demolition work had been done until after Sunday's fire.
Before crews tore down the building, neighbors were watching the remaining walls with a wary eye.
Shortly after noon on Sunday, Kara Crumley, 19, who lives with her family across the street from the church at 1601 S.W. Harrison, said the west wall of the structure appeared to be about ready to collapse.
Crumley said the building was "leaning" in such a way that it appeared it could fall out toward S.W. Harrison, rather than collapse inside.
The old building, which was built in 1920, was home to the former Trinity Methodist Church through the mid-1960s. It then was taken over by Lane Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church through the 1970s and into the early 1980s.
After that, it sat vacant for the most part, though it was purchased by Kathleen Pond and Andrea Bellucci, of Islandia, N.Y., who are listed on the Shawnee County appraiser's website as the current owners. The building's 2013 appraised value was listed at $30,490.
The building was reported to have been occupied for a brief period about seven years ago by a caretaker, but since that time it has been inhabited by vagrants and homeless people who sought a place of shelter.
Fire officials said they hoped no one was inside the building at the time of the fire on Sunday morning, adding there was no way they could get inside the building to do a search because of the fast-moving nature of the fire and the poor structural condition of the building, whose windows had been boarded up for years.
The building was featured on the A&E television series "Paranormal State" a few years ago and was widely regarded as "one of the most haunted places in Kansas."
However, some people disputed that the abandoned church was actually haunted.
Anyone with information on the fire may call Crime Stoppers at (785) 234-0007.