{"id":60459,"date":"2025-01-28T00:14:31","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T05:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=60459"},"modified":"2025-01-28T02:45:48","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T07:45:48","slug":"devastating-fire-destroys-choir-room-and-chapel-at-lehigh-acres-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2025\/01\/devastating-fire-destroys-choir-room-and-chapel-at-lehigh-acres-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Devastating Fire Destroys Choir Room and Chapel at Lehigh Acres Church"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A devastating fire broke out Sunday night, completely destroying the choir room and a chapel at Christ at the Crossroads church<\/a> in Lehigh Acres.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Devastating Fire Destroys Choir Room and Chapel at Lehigh Acres Church<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Neighbors and the church\u2019s senior pastor, Zulma Soba, watched in disbelief as flames engulfed the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The building was on fire, but not the church,” said Pastor Soba. “Our spirit is still high. We gonna rise, and we’re gonna shine more than ever.” While the main sanctuary remained untouched, the roof suffered significant damage, and the atmosphere was filled with heartbreak as the community faced the loss.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Holes in the roof of the main church<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

“The big damage is in the back,” Soba explained. “The choir room and the chapel are completely destroyed.” She recounted how a neighbor alerted her to the fire, saying he saw smoke coming from the church. \u201cWe ran outside, my husband and I, and we were in disbelief,” she shared. “We were heartbroken.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the fire raged, the impact of the church\u2019s long-standing presence in the community since the 1960s became evident. “We saw that, you know, the flame and the smoke, and we were like, you know, it is a real situation,” Soba commented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Katie Heck, spokesperson for the Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District, provided insight into the firefighting efforts. “Y’all were able to put it out about an hour and a half, yeah, of active firefighting, and that was with all of our apparatus from our stations and assistance from Fort Myers, City of Fort Myers, and South Trail,” Heck stated. “Several fire districts assisted, which is helping to cover calls in the area while our units were here. But we had two aerials up, so it was nice. We actually just put one of our new aerials in service.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The quick calling from community members played a crucial role in the early response. \u201cThat really led to the ability to save the building,” she noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, the church staff is collaborating with safety officials due to the fire and water damage, which has left ash and soot that could be toxic. “Because of synthetic things that burn, it’s not something that’s good to inhale,” warned Heck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Classes associated with the church have been postponed, with students not expected to return until next week, pending safety evaluations of the property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked about the church\u2019s next steps, Pastor Soba emphasized the need for patience and support. “The only thing is, be patient with us,” she said. “Pray for us. Keep sending us your love and support, and as soon as we start, you know, we have the green light to start working, we will let you know.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the community rallies around Christ at the Crossroads, the resilience of its pastor and the church\u2019s congregation shines through even the darkest of times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

other photos<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A devastating fire broke out Sunday night, completely destroying the choir room and a chapel at Christ at the Crossroads church in Lehigh Acres. Neighbors and the church\u2019s senior pastor, Zulma Soba,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":60461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,32],"tags":[2964],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60459"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60459"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60475,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60459\/revisions\/60475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}