Rebounding from the flames
Woodbury Union congregation pulls treasures from fire thought to have started in leaves outside church
From George Tarring’s photographs, it’s hard to imagine that fire swept through Woodbury Union Church Thanksgiving eve.
Tarring scrolls though the pictures on his digital camera, stopping at a shot of Pastor T.J. DeMarco’s office. It looks unscathed, bathed in sunlight. Other areas within the church, with the exception of the sanctuary, look remarkably untouched, although for more than six hours firefighters battled the persistent blaze that authorities believe started outside the church and then ran inside the eves before erupting through the roof and toppling the metal steeple.
Tarring said a dumpster kept at the back of the church was empty and untouched by the fire. That wasn’t the case of the shed. He said it is thought the fire started by a cigarette butt tossed in leaves that collect between the shed and the dumpster. From the shed the fire spread to the church.
Acting Fire Chief Marcel Fontenault said Monday arson has not been ruled out because the fire started outside the building in an area devoid of wiring.
Looking at the photographs, it becomes obvious why they are so well lit. Ceilings are gone and so, too, is much of the roof, exposing the interior to natural light. The devastation is significant, although Tarring and others in the 100-member parish vow to rebuild.
On the night of the fire Tarring, whose grandfather was one of three who helped found the church in the early 1900s, watched the burning building in the bitter cold wind. He was there until the early morning hours when the flames were finally extinguished and fire marshals started their investigation. His concern was for 13 cases of hand bells, some no larger than a pear. A youth hand bell choir was started in the 1980s with a gift of one set of bells and has grown from there to about 60 bells in five octaves. There was also a set of chimes.
Tarring knew the bells were stored not far from a side door. He provided the key to one of the state fire marshals and she went in to instantly find the bells. Tarring was permitted to enter the church and help remove the bells.
So much more has been rescued from the church.
On Thanksgiving morning, a group of parishioners gathered not far from the fallen steeple and yellow caution tape ringing the church. Cindy Walbridge, whose father William Lover was pastor from 1972 to 1999 and grew up as a member of the church, fought back tears. It was hard for her to take cell phone photos that she would send to her father, who is now living in Virginia.
“This is the fabric of my childhood,” Walbridge said.
One small reason to smile Friday morning was the cross Susan Hay held up. It looked virtually undamaged by the fire. Usually the cross sits at the center of the altar, but because of a cornucopia display for Thanksgiving it had been moved. Tarring and fellow parishioner Richard Deering pulled it from the debris of the roof that collapsed on the sanctuary and its rows of pews.
Hay was shopping for a charity event – the Fez-tival of Trees in Pawtuxet – at Hobby Lobby Wednesday evening when she was texted a photo of the fire.
“I just had a pit in my stomach,” she said. She raced to the church to join a growing crowd on West Shore Road.
“It was heart-wrenching to watch those breaking windows in the sanctuary,” she said.
Hay stayed until 3:30 a.m. As of Sunday she was still hopeful of recovering memorial books – a recording of parish members and visitors.
“I didn’t care,” she said of her vigil the cold night of the fire, “this is my church, this is my family.”
Remarkably, the paraphernalia that Hay used to run the church Spooktacular was stored in plastic bins this year, which she believes saved it from water damage. She hoped to discover that was the case yesterday. The church’s fireproof safe made it through the fire, but as Tarring notes, it was not waterproof. The contents were soaked
At one point an estimated three feet of water filled the basement of Friendship Memorial Room, the lowest point in the church. Firefighters set up pumps once the fire was out to drain it.
The church started as the Conimicut Village Sunday School in 1906. It grew rapidly, and by April 1907, according to the church history posted on its website, a corporation was formed and land for the church was donated by Ida Wright. The church was named in honor of her father, Samuel Woodbury.
The church is a place for the gathering of community. It is home to two Girl Scout troops, a Boy Scout troop, a food pantry and the Disabled American Veterans. It is also a regular meeting location for the Conimicut Village Association that Rev. Lover helped incorporate and served as its founding president.
Hay finds solace in community response to the fire. She said Father Robert Marciano, pastor of St. Kevin Church who is also serving in the role of pastor of St. Benedict, has been wonderful in offering space to the organizations displaced by the fire. Woodbury Sunday services were conducted at St. Benedict. The Woodbury hand bell choir has been invited to participate in the St. Kevin Christmas concert. With the assistance of Friends Way, which bought the church education building on West Shore Road some years ago, the church and the village association plan to hold their traditional Conimicut Christmas tree lighting on Dec. 7 with singing and hot cocoa to follow at Friends Way.
Hay attributes the community outreach in large part to Rev. Lover. She said, “He planted the community roots that have come back tenfold to feed us.”
