Fire forces evacuation at Mableton church during service

Here we're going to move forward and check in with our Eli Jordan, where an investigation is underway after a church fire. Eli, what can you tell us out there in Mapleton? Hey, yes, good afternoon. I'm out here at the Christ Apostolic Church International out on Mapleton Highway. And yesterday, during service, about 10, 30, 11, a congressperson, I mean a... A congressional person was out here, a congregational person was out here, a member of the church, and they saw smoke right up here. They saw smoke coming out of the power lines where it connects. And so he went running inside to tell the people of the church because he knew that, you know, sermon was going on. And so he comes running inside. He goes running inside the church, and sermon is right in here. And so all the kids came out first, about 90 people total, you know, members of the congregation. Kids came out first. Adults came out first. They came walking out here into the parking lot. And then when they're out in the parking lot, they noticed. Smoke coming out from here, and they had already called Cobb County Fire. Engine 27 came out of here and put it out pretty quick. But they're lucky they found it because it was all up in the attic. It didn't spread down into the interior, but still there's a lot of damage there. And I spoke with the Reverend Frederick Appiah. Here's what he had to say about the event. I think we are lucky because it happened when we were around. If it happened, maybe... Within the weekdays, it would have been disastrous because we wouldn't have seen it earlier. And they're glad that they were here, which sounds odd. But with them being here and that fire starting up in the attic, they were able to get the fire put out as quickly as possible. Now, Appiah, the reverend, says that the fire department only took about 15 minutes to put it out, but they shut the power off. And they think it might be from where a power line coming in from the pole to the building. Just shorted on some flashing up on the roof. Now, they already spent, last year, they spent about $50,000 replacing this roof. So they're kind of short on funds, and they have a GoFundMe. So it's for the Christ Apostolic Church International in Mabelton. If you want to help them out, they need it. Had a fire. They're hoping to get back into the church this weekend, but it's still uncertain because of Georgia Power. But they have a GoFundMe. Again, it's the Christ Apostolic Church International on Mabelton Road. They need some help because they had a fire. Jasmine? All right, Eli. Thanks so much for joining us to talk about this. I'm glad that you were able to bring this to our attention so we can support the church. Eli, thanks.