An investigation is continuing into the middle-of-the-night August 20 blaze that destroyed a Seventh-day Adventist Church in the city of Rostov-on-Don in the Northern Caucasus region.

The fire, which started at or near midnight, saw the arrival of firefighters 10 minutes later. However, efforts to contain the blaze took more than four hours, and were not totally successful: after pronouncing the fire "liquidated" at 4:30 a.m. local time, the roof reignited four and one-half hours later. Firefighters returned to again put out the blaze.

According to local Adventist church officials, the entire wooden roof was destroyed, and the metal parts of the roof, decking and heating system all received major damage. In the church hall itself, benches and all furniture were destroyed, all audio equipment was burned, and a large number of windows were damaged. All of the congregation's songbooks and other literature sustained water damage.

Local fire experts worked until 2 p.m. on August 21 to determine the cause of the blaze. They said the church's electrical wiring was not to blame, because it was installed according to standards. No other reason has yet been determined for the fire.

Meanwhile, a committee of Rostov-Kalmykia regional church leaders, Caucasus mission representatives and pastors, as well as elders and deacons from churches in Rostov-on-Don met August 21 to analyze what happened and define the primary task of rebuilding this congregation. [Helen Zhadan for ANN/APD]