Probe into church blaze begins

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By the Lincoln Journal Star

At least one lane of Ninth Street  past Zion Church is likely to be open Monday morning, said fire officials, who on Sunday continued their investigation into Saturday morning’s blaze.

Unable to determine the stability of  brick walls left standing after a fire gutted the 80-year-old church, officials closed adjacent streets and cautiously began deconstructing the fire’s course, Deputy Fire Chief Pat Borer said.

The landmark church at Ninth and D streets sustained more than $2 million in damages, according to early estimates. Flames were shooting from the building as firefighters arrived around 5 a.m. Saturday, and it took about three hours to extinguish the last of them.

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Lincoln firefighters put fresh water on still-smoldering debris at Zion Church on Sunday as crews began tearing down unstable walls to clear the way for fire inspectors. (Gwyneth Roberts)

Lincoln firefighters put fresh water on still-smoldering debris at Zion Church on Sunday as crews began tearing down unstable walls to clear the way for fire inspectors. (Gwyneth Roberts)

Investigators have identified the building’s north end as an area of interest, because that was where firefighters first saw smoke and flames.

On Sunday, firefighters continued to deal with small fires that flared up as crews took apart the building piece by piece.

Street closures included:

* D Street from Eighth to 10th streets.

* Parts of C and E streets.

* Ninth Street from A to K.

By 3 p.m. Sunday, Borer said, portions of the building had been judged stable enough for investigators to begin work.

Insurance assessments must wait until firefighters have completed their work.

A vacant house next to the church also was damaged, but it was to be destroyed anyway, Borer said, as part of a planned church expansion.

The church was built in the historic South Bottoms neighborhood in 1927 by German Russian immigrants.

In 1997, Zion Congregational Church and Covenant Presbyterian Church joined to create Zion Church (Presbyterian Church in America), attracting young families to the church, some of whom moved to the area.