NORTHROP – A fire broke out shortly after 2 a.m. Wednesday at the St. James Lutheran Church and School in Northrop.

Truman Police Chief Justin Jobe said he had just patrolled the area and was headed to Fairmont when a medical call came in. He turned around and was headed back on County Road 38 when he noticed the smoke and fire.

“I was just through the area about 10 minutes before that,” he said, “and when I saw the smoke and fire, I immediately put out the call.”

Jobe said “the heavy fire was located in the sanctuary portion of the church.”

“The fire spread quickly and led to the roof collapsing,” he added. “The sanctuary was a total loss. Fortunately, no one was inside at the time of the fire.”

Area fire departments responding were Northrop, Fairmont, Truman, Granada and Welcome. The Truman Ambulance Service was also on scene.

Neighborhood resident Keith Anderson, who lives just across the street, said he noticed the blaze right away.

“I witnessed the whole thing,” he said. “It’s a devastating loss.”

Northrop Assistant Fire Chief Greg Sokoloski noted that along with the sanctuary, the kitchen was destroyed and will have to be rebuilt.

“Water and electrical have been disconnected,” he said. “There is also extensive water damage to the school gymnasium.”

Sokoloski said they will most likely be able, after considerable cleanup, to salvage the gym, but he is unsure how long the students will be displaced from the school. Aside from the kitchen being destroyed, water damage to the gymnasium floor and smoke damage, there was no other damage to the school.

St. James Lutheran Pastor Robert Trueblood said he had a meeting with the insurance company Wednesday afternoon in an effort to determine how to go about the process of rebuilding. In the meantime, he noted, “several churches and Martin Luther High School have offered their facilities for our services.”

He also said that it is important to remember the sanctuary is “a building that can be rebuilt. The church is the people in it, not the building itself.”

“We appreciate the community support, their well wishes and their prayers,” Trueblood added.

Part of that community support includes the use of five guest rooms at the Holiday Inn in Fairmont as a temporary school for the displaced students.

Hotel manager Jason Subbert said he heard about the needs of the school from hotel employee Brady Meyer, whose wife Elizabeth is a teacher at the school, and asked Meyer how the Holiday Inn could help.

Subbert said nine rooms will be affected, as the additional four rooms will need to be used for storage. The hotel will house the temporary school for up to two weeks and will provide the students with lunch every day.

“Although we are in the business of making money, it isn’t only about that. It’s about neighbors helping neighbors,” Subbert said. “At the end of the day, our organization is here to serve people and this is a great opportunity for us to help the community.”

The Northrop Fire Department, Chief Jobe, the State Fire Marshal and ATF (federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) investigators were at the scene of the fire most of the morning and into the afternoon Wednesday.

The cause of the blaze has yet to be determined and the investigation remains active. However, Jobe noted that the fire marshal was in the process of conducting lightning strike research. He said that as they have the start of the blaze narrowed down, they will attempt to connect that time with a major lightning strike in the area to determine if lightning was the cause of the fire.

Any questions may be directed to Jobe through the Martin County Dispatch at (507) 238-4481.