Fire Destroys Soap Lake Church

Fire destroyed Our Most Sorrowful Mother Catholic Church on Monday, gutting the inside of the one-story, brick building, the fire chief said.

A passerby spotted the blaze at about 4:30 a.m., and arriving firefighters found flames shooting through the windows and part of the roof, Chief Criss Wahl said.

Firefighters controlled the blaze after about a half-hour. The 1,300-square-foot structure was still standing, but damage was estimated at $90,000, Wahl said.

The building was unoccupied and no one was injured, he said. The cause was under investigation.

The church is a mission of the Saint Rose of Lima church in Ephrata. Soap Lake is about 110 miles west of Spokane.