Hyde Park church led by Henry Lyons gutted by fire

TAMPA The New Salem Missionary Baptist Church, led by embattled Pastor Henry J. Lyons, was heavily damaged by a fire that began before dawn Monday.

No one was injured, but the roof and virtually the entire interior of the church was destroyed; damage was estimated at $400,000.

The church building had stood in North Hyde Park for nearly 65 years. Church members milled about Monday morning as Tampa Fire Rescue firefighters stood by, occasionally hoisting an extended ladder over the smoldering building, dumping water onto spots that flared up. Some congregation members wept and hugged each other.

The church, organized in 1906 and at its current location since 1950, had recently been in financial trouble and was placed under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2012, though it has since emerged from bankruptcy.

The church was for sale but still was home to some 450 members in this neighborhood just west of the University of Tampa.

The 4,700-square-foot brick church building at 405 N. Oregon Ave., and some adjoining lots were placed on the market for $1.8 million in November, according to the website of AKA Commercial Realty, which is listing the property.

Tampa firefighters got a 911 call at 6:30 a.m., a half-hour before the day-care in the building was to open, said fire-rescue spokesman Jason Penny. When firefighters arrived, flames already were breaching the shingled roof, rising about 30 feet above the structure.

The first arriving firefighters immediately called out a second alarm, Penny said, because of the flames and the age of the building.

Flames could be seen on Interstate 275, a dozen blocks to the north, Penny said.

The second alarm doubled the units responding. In all, about 45 firefighters were at the location on the corner of Oregon Avenue and Fig Street, considered the north part of Hyde Park.

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Hyde Park church led by Henry Lyons gutted by fire