Thank you for your protection St. Michael - Couple escapes unharmed after church is burned

'I said to my wife, 'Oh my God, it's the Nazarene church.''

Pastor Gilbert LĂ©onian woke to the smell of smoke and the sound of fire eating away at the Armenian Evangelical Church of Alfortville.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - LĂ©onian and his wife slept on the first floor of the church building when an arsonist started the fire.

The couple immediately called firefighters and woke Pastor Cesar Perez, who also lived in the building with his wife and their four children, all of whom were reportedly safe.

Fillmore Fire Chief Keith Gurrola told the Ventura County Star: "When units arrived on the scene, the fire was shooting out of the three-story steeple like a Roman candle."

The blaze began at about 6 a.m. but crews and investigators stayed until noon. They left a red-tag sign on the church's front door, indicating it was not safe to enter. The home where the pastor's family lived, mere feet from the site, received a yellow tag, indicating they could return home soon.

Larry Spencer, a Fillmore resident of over 50 years, heard there was a fire at a warehouse in the area but when he went to investigate, he realized it was the church.

"I said to my wife, 'Oh my God, it's the Nazarene church," he shared. "They lost everything. In a small town, for a church to go up in flames like this, it's really something. Our whole congregation, we prayed for their church."

Kathy Meza, another resident, stated, "It's just very sad. They had wonderful worship services there. Now it's all burned up."

Armenian Weekly reported the fire has been labeled an arson and a trashcan before the church was deliberately set on fire.

Only eight days before the attack, thrown stones damaged the face of the building but it wasn't until after the arson case that Luc Carvounas, the Mayor of Alfortville, condemned the attacks and expressed his solidarity with the church.

Thankfully, no one was harmed in the attack.

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