Massive overnight fire burns down Auckland’s oldest black church

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A massive fire at the oldest black church in Oakland late Sunday attracted dozens of firefighters to the scene, who worked for hours to put out the blaze.

No one was hurt in the fire at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, located on the corner of 37th Street and Telegraph Avenue, according to the Oakland Fire Department. It is not clear what led to the fire with three alarms around 10:45 pm.

Brigades continued to put out active fires in the upper parts of the church nearly four hours after the incident, officials said. Meanwhile, firefighters continued to search for additional hot spots.

Fire officials tweeted video footage of the fire and noted that they treated the scene as a “defensive gunfight” using three ladder pipes and crews on the ground to spray water on the roof and inside of the building.

Pastor Rodney Smith posted a video on social media saying the building was “completely gutted”. He also noted the church’s unique place in history as it was the first African-American church in the East Bay.

“We don’t know why, we don’t know who, but he’s on fire,” Smith said in the video. “But I promise you that we will rise again.

The Auckland Library website notes that Auckland’s First African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1858, and Smith said in his video that the congregation moved into the church in 1954.

The fire occurred on the same day that a PG&E substation fire cut off power to 50,000 East Bay residents.

English