ST. GEORGE — Police are investigating a devastating fire in downtown St. George Saturday as a crime after the blaze destroyed a chapel built by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The fire was originally reported at around 1:15 a.m. at the nearly completed Stake Center in the area of 300 East and 400 South. The fire spread from one end of the building to the other, and the roof and ceiling eventually caved in. Fire crews spent hours mounting a defensive attack from outside of the building before it finally died down.

See time-lapse video courtesy of Bloomington FM Group at the top of this report.

“We are treating it as a crime right now,” St. George Police officer Tiffany Atkin said of the cause of the fire during a press conference Saturday afternoon.

She said the fire started at the exterior of the building where there’s no source of heat or electricity, which indicates it was likely set intentionally.

Detection dogs sniffing the scene also found evidence of accelerant in two areas around the church.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Utah State Fire Marshal, St. George Fire Department and St. George Police are working together on the investigation.

Watch the entire press conference on St. George News’ Facebook live feed below.



St. George Fire Chief Robert Stoker said security cameras on the temple grounds across the street indicated the fire may have been burning for an hour before it was reported.

The entire building was gutted by the flames and is considered a total loss, Stoker said.

Read more and see video of active flames: New LDS stake center near St. George Temple gutted by fire

Firemen were still on scene well into Saturday afternoon putting out remaining flames. The fire left a thick layer of smoke throughout downtown St. George that may linger through the day.

The new chapel had been built to replace an aging building that was torn down last year. Church officials on social media expressed shock at news of the blaze but said they would work through this “bump in the road.”

Anyone with information on the fire is asked to contact St. George Police at 435-627-4300.

St. George News reporters Mori Kessler and Joseph Witham contributed to this report.

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