A four-alarm fire consumed a Tuscaloosa church Thursday morning, creating rolling clouds of smoke that could be seen and smelled across the city.

Forty-five children attending daycare and several adults escaped Mount Pilgrim Church safely, but the 64-year-old structure was a total loss. The cause remains under investigation.

"The building is burned, but the church is not," said Pastor Frank Kennedy Sr. "We're very resilient people. We're just going to take it one day at a time and move on. We're not giving up."

Tuscaloosa Fire and Rescue Service firefighters were called to the church on 39th Street East at 9:39 a.m. The first units arrived at 9:46 a.m. and had the fire fully extinguished by 12:48 p.m. As many as 55 firefighters using eight fire engines and two ladder trucks kept the blaze under control. Off-duty firefighters were called in to work to help fight the fire and to respond to emergency calls in other parts of the city, Smith said.

Problems with the water supply slowed firefighters' efforts, said Chief Randy Smith.

"It's a very dangerous type of fire," he said. "We have a 6-inch water main we're pulling water off of, and two 5-inch lines supplying the trucks. At one point, we had more hoses than we had water."

Everyone had evacuated the building by the time firefighters arrived, he said. Firefighters began to fight the fire offensively in an attempt to save the sanctuary and control the blaze from inside, but retreated and took a defensive approach as the flames grew too quickly.

A backdraft blew portions of the steeple into the yard and a minor collapse in an alley struck firefighters, Smith said. They didn't require medical treatment.

"It's very rare that a mass fire event like this happens in our city," Mayor Walt Maddox said at the scene. "I knew there could have been the potential for injuries not only to those who were within the church, but our personnel."

The church was built in either 1955 or 1956, Pastor Kennedy said. Several area churches had reached out to him, offering assistance or facilities as the fire still burned. He said the congregation had been planning to renovate the sanctuary.

"God had greater plans for us. He gives, and He taketh away," Kennedy said. "We're having church this Sunday. Even if we have to put a tent out on the ground, we're going to worship and praise God."

Maddox said Kennedy was raising everyone's spirits who stood by and watched as firefighters battled the blaze.

"He sees the hand of God in this. Sometimes, we can only see things through the prism of being humans,"he said. "What he sees is the image of God moving in a very powerful way."

Firefighters believe the fire started in an area near the back corner of the building, near the daycare.

TFRS will conduct an investigation into the cause.