Fire under investigation after torching Chinese church in downtown Sacramento

A three-alarm fire ripped through a small church Saturday morning in downtown Sacramento, the cause of which is under investigation.

Sacramento Fire Department personnel were called to the blaze at the Chinese Gospel Mission on the 1900 block of 15th Street near T Street around 7:30 a.m. where flames were seen shooting up from the building’s south gable end and against an adjacent three-story residential structure. Within the hour, firefighters had contained the blaze.

Department spokesman Capt. Keith Wade said the fire in the Richmond Grove neighborhood did not damage the newer structure next door, but did cause heavy damage to the church facility. No injuries were reported.

Wade said the blaze started from the exterior of the building’s back side and quickly moved into the attic space. Fire investigators do not know what caused the blaze.

According to the church’s parent group, the Chinese Gospel Mission was started after World War II by Frank Fung, who was pastor at the original church on Eighth Street. In the 1960s, the ministry was renamed Chinese Grace Bible Church and moved to the Greenhaven area. Chinese Gospel Mission, which occupied the 15th Street building since 1979, was still being used for services.

Calls to church officials were not immediately returned.

This story was originally published April 10, 2021 at 9:17 AM.