Fire at church ruins good cause

A stove fire at Immanuel Baptist Church Saturday did more than damage the kitchen – it destroyed a fundraising dinner for a woman’s kidney medications.

Church members had organized a spaghetti dinner for about 120 persons with 100 percent of the money going to a 34-year-old woman who had a kidney transplant, Spokane Fire Assistant Chief Brian Schaeffer said.

Efforts to put out the fire ruined the dinner and made the kitchen temporarily unusable.

The fire is still under investigation, but the cause is believed to be related to a malfunction in the stove top, Schaeffer said.

Katie Cottle had a successful kidney transplant in April, said church member Linda Turnbough. But Cottle’s insurance was terminated during the process, and she didn’t have enough money to cover any of the medications.

Church members had been preparing for the fundraiser – dubbed “Kidney for Katie” – for weeks, Turnbough said. Much of the food had been donated by local retailers.

“We were hoping to raise about $500 for Katie,” Turnbough said. Cottle will have to take medications for the rest of her life, and “we just wanted to do what we could to help.”

The fire broke out at 3:36 p.m., about 15 minutes before dinner was to be served. “We didn’t have time to let people know what happened,” Turnbough said. “But people seemed to be pretty understanding about it.”

Firefighters responded to the church at 5109 N. Adams St. within four minutes of the call, Schaeffer said.

The fire was confined to the kitchen, but ash and fire extinguisher chemicals contaminated the food.

A fire crew stayed behind to help church members clean up.

“Getting the kitchen back to normal is going to take a lot of work, a thorough cleaning and a new stove,” Turnbough said. “Fortunately the church wasn’t damaged other than a broken window.”