Atoy Church Fire Remains under Investigation
Posted/updated on: October 18, 2015 at 3:00 pmRUSK — A preliminary finding on the cause of an October 14 fire that destroyed the Rusk-area Atoy Baptist Church, from the State Fire Marshal’s office, concludes that the nature of the fire will be listed as undetermined. According to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, the state fire marshal said a heater used to warm the water in the baptistry may have been left on when the water was drained. Officials say the fire apparently started in the baptistry, traveled into the wall space of the baptistry, climbed into the attic space, and continued to spread further into the church.
Officials say the final report is expected to be provided to the sheriff’s office within a few weeks. If the focus of the investigation does not change at that point, the report will be available for release through standard open records requests to the records department of the Sheriff’s Office. Requests can be sent to records@cocherokee.org for case number 15-SO-1585. KETK reports the church has 50 to 60 congregants.