SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane police released body camera footage of officers' response to a fire at St. Charles Parish on North Alberta Street Thursday morning.
The department released two videos from the scene. Both of the videos show the moments after Officer Derek Jones woke up the priest who lives on campus.
According to Spokane police, Father Esteban Soler was asleep in his living quarters at the time of the fire. Officer Jones was able to wake Father Soler and get him out of the building to safety.
There was no fire damage to the church itself but smoke did enter it, a spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Spokane said in an email. An assessment is being done to determine what cleaning is needed before parishioners return to the building for worship. No timeline for reopening is available at this time.
Father Soler, the pastor at St. Charles, will celebrate Mass on Sunday, March 21 at 11 a.m. at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes in downtown Spokane.
Police officer alerted sleeping priest to fire
Officers with the Spokane Police Department alerted Father Soler at St. Charles early Thursday morning to the fire. Father Soler had just come back from visiting his family in Argentina and was tired, Catholic Diocese of Spokane Bishop Thomas Daly said during an interview with KREM.
"He had to bury his dad while he was down there. He was down there for a couple months," Daly said. "He returned...deep into sleep, and pounding on the door, which police officers woke him. But he said, 'I slept through everything, and then this pounding on the window pounding. I woke up and he says, 'It's on fire.'"
Police investigating fire as 'possible arson'
Spokane Fire crews arrived at St. Charles Elementary School just before 2 a.m. on Thursday after an officer with SPD who was driving by the school noticed the blaze. Spokane Fire Department Battalion Chief, David Heizer, said the priority quickly shifted to protecting the church attached to the school.
Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said the fire caused extensive damage to the priests' living quarters along with the connecting hallways of the school.
The SPD Major Crimes Unit is investigating the fire as a "possible arson," police spokesperson Julie Humphreys said on Thursday. The school does have security cameras on campus that may help in the investigation.
Bishop Daly estimates a couple million dollars in damage to the school. He said some of the offices just completed renovations. The school serves 130 students kindergarten through eighth grade.
The school will connect with parents on Friday evening about plans for the school during the two weeks remaining before spring break.
Heizer told reporters on scene that the flames were 15 to 20 feet above the roof of the school. At least 47 fire crew members were on scene.
The Catholic Diocese of Spokane also posted a statement on Facebook in response to the fire:
Overnight, a fire destroyed part of St. Charles School and Rectory in north Spokane. At this time, information on the building's status is limited, and we ask for your patience. Thanks to the quick response from the Spokane Police and Fire Departments, everyone is safe. While the fire department investigates and the damages are being assessed, the school has begun planning for the next steps to continue education for their students. Please keep the pastor, principal, staff, students, and school community in your prayers.
Donations to the parish can be made online by indicating "Fire Relief" in the memo line. The school is accepting donations online and those who are donating should indicate "Fire Relief" in the memo line and select the school fund from the dropdown list.
Heizer told KREM 2 photojournalist Al Lozano that the person who called 911 to report the fire said they heard an explosion. No explosion has been confirmed, according to Spokane Fire. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.