Suspected church arson fires. Photo

A Vancouver-area church was damaged by fire Thursday in what investigators suspect is the second local church arson in just two days.

The fire early Thursday morning at the Liberty Bible Church of the Nazarene was extinguished by sprinklers, but those sprinklers caused significant water damage, fire officials said.

Like a similar fire early Wednesday at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Hazel Dell, Thursday’s fire occurred at about 3 a.m. at a landmark church. Firefighters from Clark County Fire District 6, which serves Hazel Dell, Felida and Salmon Creek, responded to both blazes.

David Schmitke, a spokesman for the fire district, said firefighters were dispatched at 3:05 a.m. Thursday after the fire alarm sounded at the church, 12401 N.E. Salmon Creek Ave.

Arriving firefighters discovered that an object had been thrown through a rear window of the church’s preschool area, starting a fire that triggered a number of sprinklers. The fire was out, but the water had caused extensive damage to the lower level of the two-story church, Schmitke said.