New Jersey

Fire destroys abandoned church in Camden, NJ

Early Monday, a fire tore through the former Friendship Baptist Church in Camden, New Jersey, and part of the building crumbled to the ground

NBC Universal, Inc.

Fire crews in Camden, New Jersey were working on early Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, as an abandoned church burned and part of the structure collapsed.

According to officials, the fire began at about 4:20 a.m., at the former Friendship Baptist Church, located along the 1000 block of South 8th Street in Camden, New Jersey.

First responders to the scene found fire bursting through the roof, and officials said, part of the building had collapsed.

And, according to a woman who lives near the structure, this wasn't the first time a fire had erupted in the vacant church.

"This is the third or fourth time the church has burned," said Brenda, who asked NBC10 not to share her last name.

She claimed that the church most recently caught fire about a two or three months ago. Brenda said that she believed the structure had been left vacant for at least the past five years that she has lived on that block and, she worried, that people use the building to "get high and sleep."

Fire officials said that no one was in the structure when they responded to extinguish the flames.

No injuries have been reported in this incident.

Fire officials did not provide information on what may have caused this fire, but they said, an investigation is ongoing.

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