ad info

CNN.com
 MAIN PAGE
 WORLD
 ASIANOW
 U.S.
 LOCAL
 POLITICS
 WEATHER
 BUSINESS
 SPORTS
 TECHNOLOGY
 NATURE
 ENTERTAINMENT
 BOOKS
 TRAVEL
 FOOD
 HEALTH
 STYLE
 IN-DEPTH

 Headline News brief
 daily almanac
 CNN networks
 CNN programs
 on-air transcripts
 news quiz

  CNN WEB SITES:
CNN Websites
 TIME INC. SITES:
 MORE SERVICES:
 video on demand
 video archive
 audio on demand
 news email services
 free email accounts
 desktop headlines
 pointcast
 pagenet

 DISCUSSION:
 message boards
 chat
 feedback

 SITE GUIDES:
 help
 contents
 search

 FASTER ACCESS:
 europe
 japan

 WEB SERVICES:
US

3 firefighters killed, 3 hospitalized in Texas church fire

February 16, 1999
Web posted at: 2:09 a.m. EST (0709 GMT)

LAKE WORTH, Texas (CNN) -- A church blaze on Monday that investigators believe was deliberately set killed three firefighters who were trapped when the roof collapsed.

The fire ripped through the Precious Faith Temple in Lake Worth, a suburb of Fort Worth.

Two of the victims, Brian Collins, 35, and Phillip Dean, 29, were Fort Worth firemen who were volunteering for a suburban fire department on their day off. The third victim, 19-year-old Gary Sanders, was a fireman from nearby Sansom Park.

Three other firefighters who were injured had been on the roof. One was hospitalized in serious condition; the other two were in good or stable condition.

Lt. Kent Worley of the Fort Worth Fire Department said the fire started in the back of the church and spread to the attic. The cause of the fire was being investigated.

Witness Kevin Schreiber, who works across the street from the church, said: "At one point, it was billowing smoke, everything was covered -- the whole sky, and the flames kept moving toward the front of the building. The wind has been ferocious like this forever. The roof all of the sudden just buckled."

Crews attacked areas of rubble where the missing firefighters were believed to be and finally reached the bodies more than two hours after the collapse.

"Even though we are firefighters, we have to go on doing our business as best we can," Worley said. "We're all human. ... It's not going to be an easy process."

Dozens of firefighters from Lake Worth and nearby fire departments were called to the scene. Police blocked off streets around the church, and helicopters hovered overhead.


RELATED STORIES:
See related U.S. stories

RELATED SITES:
City of Lake Worth Web Site
The Fire Station
ARSON ALARM FOUNDATION
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

 LATEST HEADLINES:
SEARCH CNN.com
Enter keyword(s)   go    help

Back to the top   © 2001 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.