Macon church fire investigation proceeding as if arson

Fire investigators looking into Tuesday morning’s blaze at God’s Power Church of Christ believe they have found the origin of the fire.

“Right now we are investigating as if it was a set fire,” said Sgt. Ben Gleaton, an arson investigator for the Macon-Bibb County Fire Department.

Gleaton and colleagues from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searched the rubble Tuesday afternoon and took samples from what is believed to be the point of origin in the church sanctuary.

The samples will be tested for accelerants at the GBI crime lab, Gleaton said.

The Cedar Avenue church had been repeatedly burglarized during thefts of sound and air conditioning equipment, church members said.

Electricity and gas lines were still hooked up to the building, although no services had been held there in recent weeks.

The front door was wired shut and locked when firefighters arrived, but investigators are still trying to determine if the rest of the building was secure in the hours before the fire, which was reported about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The flames tore through the roof and gutted most of the building.

To contact writer Liz Fabian, call 744-4303.

This story was originally published June 24, 2015 at 11:18 AM with the headline "Macon church fire investigation proceeding as if arson ."