Westgate Chapel Fire May Have Been Arson

EDMONDS - Arson may be the cause of a fire that did $50,000 damage to the Westgate Chapel, investigators say.

The fire started at 1:43 a.m. yesterday in two places, an office on the ground level and in a basement kitchen on the east end of the building, Edmonds Fire Chief Mike Springer said.

Although few flames were visible from outside, smoke billowed for nearly three hours from the nondenominational, evangelical church. Nearly three dozen firefighters, including some from Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace and Shoreline, were summoned.

Damage was confined mostly to an older section. The flames didn't reach a newly remodeled area or the sanctuary, Pastor Alec Rowlands said.

Rowlands said the two Sunday services usually draw 1,700 to 1,800 people.

"There's no way you're prepared for something like this," Rowlands said. "I don't know how they're going to respond. They are great people, so I'm sure they will rally to whatever the challenges are that face us."

Services were relocated to a church in Kirkland at the invitation of that congregation, and as many as three-fourths of the Westgate Chapel members attended, said Gary Jelley, the church's business manager.

The church was hit by a smaller fire a few months ago, Jelley said. The cause has not been determined.