Someone may have been living in abandoned Sacramento church building that caught fire, officials say
SACRAMENTO — For the third time in a month, a Sacramento church caught fire.
Sacramento firefighters once again navigated the smoke and flames at Victory Tabernacle Family Worship Center in Del Paso Heights on Wednesday.
"It's unknown there's been three separate fire incidents here," Sacramento Fire Department spokesperson Capt. Justin Sylvia said. "Beginning February 16, we had a fire on the inside of the building. Four days ago, an outbuilding caught fire and then yesterday's fire."
The building has sat vacant on Marysville Boulevard for years, but the fire department thinks somebody has been living inside.
"What we did find in the building was signs of human activity," Sylvia said. "Lots of debris inside, blankets, things of that nature."
Neighbors in the Del Paso Heights community say the building was once an active church.
"If the church is not going to reopen, I hope that the property could somehow be used for the less fortunate folks," civilian Gregory Jefferson said.
We reached out to the City of Sacramento about what was being done with the church. The city said the property owner is responsible for making sure their property is safe.
The city further said that they sent out an inspector Wednesday to assess the property to determine if the structure is deemed "an immediate danger."
"Yesterday, we notified our fire inspector. Officers came out and worked with dangerous buildings, and they need to come up with some collective solution. But this will take a little bit of time," Sylvia said.
After assessment, the church was not deemed an immediate danger and the property owner was notified to either repair or demolish the building.
If they don't, the city will take action at the owner's expense. The city said they are working with the property owner and that the process of selling the building may be underway.
We reached out to the owner and received no response as of this story.
