S : v jt , , -'.V.'iy 4 rtf-'- . .,3-. 1 ; I - 4 . ", . 4- f:6;;alarmsliMH " at Oakland ' - s y. . 'a 4'p; - - : v., . fc t. asv": tt i-f shurch-: T , -i . j". h ' ' - t ?'!. By Gene Ayres ' i' V. CSV -sa -. I L 1-m m i- ---. v.-it and George Estrada ' : A spectacular six-alarm fire,: - which severely tested the re- rV.:souroes of .the Oakland Flre'De? : partment. swept through ;the Fint United Methodist Church -""-i; Saturday -leaving the 69-year-old- " f landmarV at 24th and RroadwayTy r':a gutted hulk. : ' 'A'-f .' ' 't IFI i ii ' '.uMiliUftHAjf Aae Firemen continued to watery " - down burning' embers early this-! v morning. ?? : Three hours after theVfirst-3' alarm at 5:30 pn, weary flre- ( men were pouring water on the smoldering debris, . chopping ; ii: holes in the roof, and-polling 4 . down ceilings in a two-story ad: " dition. at the rear , where the" Bamet stubbornly persisted. . . By that"tiine; -onl3r the-oot- . , . ... TInHIBBI Firsman on.laddsr la dwarfed by wnH of flam aa donra of First United Msthodist Church codapeoA stained,' sagging walls and twin towers of the light brick Italian Renaissance facade remained; . ' Estimates- of .the - damage f ranged from Sl-5 million to 2 ; million. - .1 No injuries were reporied. ' The distinctive -dome of the j .church disappeared within a i half-hour of the alarm, the blasts ing heat (rf its collapse driving -firemen . temporarily . from that section of tbe building. ' . The . church- building,- - which , houses a Vietnamese , refugee t: -program, a program for 'handi-;L? capped children and the Broad way Nursery,, apparently, was empty oo the Fourth of July holi--. day afternoon. . Battalion Chief ;- Raymond Whitener, the first to arrive, laid ; that when he entered, the fire, with a long head start, already.! .was raging through the three sto. - ries of offices under the dome. : The flames sent up billowing clouds of black'-smoke .and - charred and flaming - debris Which a light wind spread over, the block to the east . ; - V At the fires height. Assistant Chief Robert McGue was direct- ; ing more than 65 firefighters. Twelve pumper trucks, four aerial ladder rigs and the depart- 8tc FRE, Page A-f
