Sad News: Provo Tabernacle Fire

[Uncle Ted]

A guy I work with is big in to art. He said that the provo tabernacle had some very significant pieces of art in that building. Lots of original paintings that at one time were in museums that the church decided to display in the tabernacle.

Well, it is a good thing the church is (self) insured.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Just got this via e-mail today. I hereby dedicate this post to CardiacCoug. Enjoy.

Story only: A Christmas Miracle – Cynthia Dayton

Some call it a fluke, others an act of nature. I call it a Christmas miracle.

In the middle of the night the Provo Tabernacle roof collapsed under the heat of the fire. The brick building walls acted like a huge chimney, keeping the fire in the fire place while men worked nonstop to contain the blaze and keep the 1600 degree temperatures from cracking the brick and what remained of the stain glass windows from melting.

When the burning doors came down on Friday, inside revealed a startling view. There, seemingly untouched, was a picture of the millennial Christ on a single standing wall.

I heard it first later that afternoon when a policeman showed me his personal camera image and told the story.

Could it be that God, loving his children, had left a sign? Was there some consolation, some peace, some hope for the many mourning the loss of the edifice to be found in the ordinary, giclée, standard issue, framed print of our Savior?

It seems to me that for many of us, the Tabernacle was much like our homes. It was more than four brick walls, as beautiful as they were. I believe that building represented a place where we individually and collectively grew up.

We changed our very natures by being there. We experienced new insights, found culminating times of celebration and reflection whether they were graduations or funerals, awards or acclamations, internal or external, we were changed. We submitted ourselves to new discovery through music, arts, literature. Through it all our characters were molded. The building was a touchstone in our lives.

Friday night I stood at 12:30 am watching as orange flames lit up the stain glass in the northeast tower. Moving from brick to glass, the funnel of water poured through the shattering shards as black smoke billowed through unseen parts of the cone shaped top. How does smoke do that when it looks so solid? I wondered if that would implode as well.

On Saturday, I went down again, after the inspections and smoke had stopped. There I was cheerfully greeted by weary firemen who had been up all night in arduous work. They were still cool despite the hot heat of the past few days. I talked with them, asked them how they were faring, wondered what they were thinking and feeling. Wondering if they ever get a time to let the exhaustion sink in, a time to put up their feet.

Beyond the building, the first thing I was told about was the painting. The fireman pointed it out to me, told me the condition. I walked towards it. It was all carefully wrapped in plastic by then. I could make out the outline of Christ, but the rest was blurred. Most of it was charred. Some was missing. Still I was awestruck. How does that happen? How does anything survive in the heat of such a fire? How can the only relatively unscathed visage be of the Christ himself?

“I wish I could see this without the plastic” I heard myself saying.

I donned a hard hat and walked the perimeter of the building, listening to the statistics of what I was looking at--thickness of walls, depth of debris, what survived structurally, what didn’t, holes that held logs, charred beehive adornments, door handles, metal beams, nails, ash, and shards of glass crunching beneath our feet.

Then, as we turned the corner, there is was. Unwrapped, it was sitting on the lip of a fire truck with men in hard hats and sooty suits kneeling around and standing by the sides.

I walked up beside it. A few pictures were snapped. I looked at the arms-outstretched still. I saw the light in the darkness. I felt the presence of His love, His deep caring, His concern for us all. And that was the miracle.

Although some suggest coincidence, seeing what could bring grown men to their knees I believe is more than that. More than a picture, I saw solace and loving kindness, the balm of Gilead, the light of the world. I saw Christmas. He came to the center. He always does.

MERRY CHRISTMAS. May God’s Love find it’s way to your hearts at this season. Cynthia

[pellegrino]

Just got this via e-mail today. I hereby dedicate this post to CardiacCoug. Enjoy.

that was quick, faster than I expected. I wonder if it will make an appearance in GC in the next year or so, that will solidify its place in church lore.

[Surfah]

that was quick, faster than I expected. I wonder if it will make an appearance in GC in the next year or so, that will solidify its place in church lore.

I already saw something similar on someones Facebook wall.

[pellegrino]

I already saw something similar on someones Facebook wall.

I may have to copy and paste, changing names of course, onto my wall. You know, just to do my part as a cog in the whole Mormon culture machine.

[falafel]

The fire chief apparently says a guard turned off the fire alarm at the Tabernacle after the alarm went off.

The first sign of trouble at the Provo Tabernacle on Dec. 17 was an alarm going off in the building 90 minutes before a fire that gutted the building was reported.

But an off-duty police officer hired by a production company to do security at the tabernacle believed it was a burglar alarm and could not find any intruders inside the 127-year-old building. After being told the system was prone to false alarms, the officer disabled the alarm, Fire Chief D. Blair Camp said Wednesday.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51...-camp.html.csp

[Jeff Lebowski]

The fire chief apparently says a guard turned off the fire alarm at the Tabernacle after the alarm went off.



http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/51...-camp.html.csp

[TripletDaddy]

"It is our determination that the fire started from an unintentional source," Camp said. But he would not speculate on other causes, including rumors that lights brought in for videotaping a performance the night before were responsible for the fire.

[falafel]

Lights can't have intentions.

[TripletDaddy]

Lights can't have intentions.

then they are prime suspects, at least per Camp's own admission.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Report out today:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7...acle-fire.html

Human error, of course.

[TripletDaddy]

Due to the lack of any info on leads or suspicions of the cause of fire, I am going to go ahead and assume that the BYU crew that was filming there that evening and smelled something burning (yet did nothing) is negligently responsible.

You were right, TripletDaddy. I guess the City of Provo wanted to spare BYU the embarrassment of burning down the most popular building in its own backyard.

[dabrockster]

I just no saw this. Sorry I had no idea this happened. I remember attending my brothers graduation from BYU Law School there..

Too bad...

[Jeff Lebowski]

You were right, TripletDaddy. I guess the City of Provo wanted to spare BYU the embarrassment of burning down the most popular building in its own backyard.

From the article:

The report deemed the fire "unintentional." Schofield said the lighting technician, Jeremy Ostler, simply made a mistake.
"There's no criminal act here. There's no criminal liability," Schofield said.
The LDS Church, though, could pursue civil action. "That would be up to them and their insurance company," he said.
Ostler, who owns Trax AV, said in an email that he read the report Thursday afternoon.
"I don't have much to say other than we deny the allegations that we were responsible for the fire. Many allegations against us are not true. However, because this is in litigation we cannot talk specifics at this time on the advice of our attorney," he wrote.

Even in a tragedy like this, the lawyers will win. The lawyers always win.

[Lost Student]

From the article:



Even in a tragedy like this, the lawyers will win. The lawyers always win.

:devil: