Fire destroys church on Portageville Main Street

At 7:07 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21, a Portageville police officer noticed heavy smoke coming from a church at the corner of Main Street and King Avenue. Crews with the Portageville Fire Department's Engine 1 and Ladder 10 were on scene within two minutes of being paged and found a single-story commercial building with very heavy smoke showing. With mutual aid from the New Madrid Fire Department, firefighters made an aggressive interior attack to prevent the fire from spreading to the adjoining buildings on Main Street. Additional mutual aid was then requested from Hayti and Caruthersville fire departments. Crews worked until 9:02 a.m. to contain the fire then an additional three hours on overhaul. The State Fire Marshal was called in to investigate and at this time, the cause is believed to be a fault in the HVAC heating system. The Portageville Fire Department offered their thanks to Portageville Police, New Madrid, Hayti and Caruthersville fire departments and others who assisted at the scene.