A church faced severe damage and at least one firefighter was injured in a fire in the Dallas area on Friday.
The fire started around 12:30 on Friday afternoon at the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church, according to Dallas Fire-Rescue.
85-year-old Pastor P.D. Taylor, who walks with a cane, was preparing for his Sunday sermon inside the church office when he noticed smoke. The pastor of 48 years was the only one inside Pleasant Valley Baptist when the fire broke out.
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Taylor successfully evacuated the church and made a phone call to his wife, Jeanie.
The pastor recalled to FOX 4 Dallas, “Jeanie, the building is on fire. Pray.”
Dallas Fire Rescue told FOX 4 Dallas that 50 firefighters were at the scene to extinguish the 2-alarm fire. One of the firefighters present is stable after being injured and transported to a nearby hospital.
Pastor P.D. Taylor spoke from a place of peace about the disaster with FOX 4 Dallas.
“There’s a reason and I don’t have to worry about it. When I die, I know where I’m going because Dec. 3, 1967, I accepted Christ as Lord and Savior of my life,” Taylor said.
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The fire was mainly contained to the office areas of Pleasant Valley Baptist Church and did not spread greatly into the area of sanctuary, for which Pastor Taylor is grateful.
“We see God working. We trust him,” asserted Taylor.
While the congregants at Pleasant Valley cannot meet in the sanctuary this Sunday, they intend to host their regular church gathering somewhere in the area.
This is the second major fire at a Dallas-area Baptist church within a week, as the First Baptist Church in downtown Dallas also suffered a fire on Friday, July 19.
The cause of Friday’s fire at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church is still under investigation.
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