3-alarm fire badly damages Bethel Church in Richmond

April 21, 2020

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Three-alarm fire badly damages Bethel Church in Richmond — Damage from a three-alarm fire at Bethel Church in Richmond on Tuesday, April 21, 2020. (Photo credit: Linda Ruiz Lozito)

By Mike Kinney

A three-alarm fire early Tuesday badly damaged Bethel Church at 35th Street and Cutting Boulevard in Richmond.

Pastor Billy Wydermyer of Bethel Church says no one was injured by the fire, which was reported to fire officials about 5:30 a.m. The blaze burned a wall in the sanctuary, the dining chapel and another small chapel inside the church, the pastor said, adding parts upstairs also suffered fire damage.

Richmond Fire Department Battalion Chief Brownlow said 50 percent of the church had been burned. The fire investigators had cleared the scene by 12:01 p.m. today. It will be several days before investigators’ report on the cause of the fire will be available, Brownlow said.