Many of you may have noticed the caution tape around the porch of St. Michael’s or the charred boards sitting to the sides. Around 1:00 am on the morning of July 20, a police officer driving by noticed a small fire on the porch and called the fire department. The fire was quickly extinguished, but there was fire and then water damage to the porch, doors, stairs and one window.

It has been established that the fire was not caused by arson but by debris on the porch left by an unauthorized person/s. The recovery costs will be covered by insurance less our deductible, and we are working with contractors to have the porch and stairs rebuilt as well as have a deep-cleaning done to eliminate the smoky odor inside the house. If the repair work needs to be delayed because of scheduling conflicts, a temporary entry path may be created. If you need access to the house and are not familiar with the new alarm system, please contact the church office.

We appreciate all the work done by John Pedisich, who was called and came to the church in the middle of the night, and by Mitch Oglesby, Jack Harper, Cliff Fairley, Bob Spiers and Chris Craun, who collectively helped to coordinate the St. Michael’s response.