Fire guts Aboite Road church

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A fire in southwest Allen County early Monday destroyed a vacant church and sent a firefighter to the hospital.

The call came in about 2:20 a.m., and Chief Don Patnoude of the Southwest Allen County Fire District said you could see the fire from several miles away.

When firefighters arrived at 8830 Aboite Road, the building was engulfed in flame and had already collapsed, Patnoude said.

They made a call for tankers and 12 were brought to the scene, and the main goal was to protect one home nearby and to prevent a field fire, the chief said.

One Aboite Township firefighter was taken to a Fort Wayne hospital, and Patnoude said it might have been heat-related. The man’s condition was not immediately available, and the chief said he did not know whether he remained in the hospital or was released.

Investigators do not yet have a cause, and Patnoude said that the department was still trying to find the property owner.

He said the church had been vacant for some time.

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