Tice pastor believes steeple lightning strike cause of fire

A pastor from a church in Tice that caught fire early Tuesday morning believes lightning struck the steeple. Firefighters extinguished flames that ignited on the roof of the church.

The flames were confirmed around 3:30 a.m. on the roof of Ministerio Internacional Mana, at 4630 Palm Beach Blvd. Nobody was at the church at the time of the fire.

The pastor believes what happened was a strike from God, going on to say he believes the lightning bolt struck the steeple of the church.

“I had just no idea. I was just zoned out,” Xochil Roberto, who lives across the street from the church said. Roberto is a deep sleeper and even she heard the sudden crack from the skies.

“I heard this like really loud boom like, and that made the sensor of the cameras go off last night,” Roberto said. “I was like, that’s insane.”

The steeple still standing, as a beacon of hope. The sanctuary inside wasn’t as lucky.

The floor appeared barely visible, the ceiling charred, and some of the chairs looked destroyed by the fire.

“It’s tragic, Roberto said. “And it’s just upsetting how they, you know, all the damage that was caused in there, and I hope that it can be fixed soon and yeah, and yeah, it’s just sad.”

Crews have been cleaning up the roof and inside the church on Palm Beach Blvd.

There’s currently no word on where members of this church might try to meet and pray together in the meantime. The pastor mentioned he expects it will be six to seven months before he can welcome his congregation back inside the church again.

The initial investigation indicates the fire may have been started by lightning, however, the fire is still being investigated.