Church Holds Services Despite Arson Damage
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Adaylong cleanup effort by church members enabled a Sunland-Tujunga congregation to hold services Sunday, despite a weekend arson that caused an estimated $250,000 in damage.
About 30 church members spent Saturday cleaning soot off pews and walls in the main chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 7955 W. Hillrose St., Bishop Dan Blomquist said. “Things are as close to normal as we can possibly make them,” he said.
The fire, which was reported just before 4 a.m. Saturday, destroyed a meeting room and a children’s chapel. Songbooks and teaching aids also were destroyed in the fire, he said.
Blomquist said church members were “very sad, discouraged” by the fire, which Los Angeles city Fire Department investigators said appeared to be intentionally set.
“There’s a lot of disbelief,” he said. “We would hope that everybody would have some respect for the house of the Lord.”
The fire is still being investigated and officials said they had no suspects.
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