Church steeple on his lawn, Bayou La Batre pastor tells of fire that almost destroyed historic church

BAYOU LA BATRE, Alabama -On Wintzell Avenue, a main thoroughfare of this waterfront town, a historic church is temporarily without a steeple. About 40 feet long, gleaming white, the steeple lies in the grass, stretching over the yard of the parsonage.

I have the largest yard ornament in Bayou La Batre, said the Rev. Clint Landry, pastor of First Baptist of Bayou La Batre, standing next to the steeple on a bright May afternoon.

Taken down after a fire that nearly consumed the church, the steeple holds fascination for all.

Children peer around it Its not a play toy, Landry tells kids and folks stop their cars to take its picture.

Its a unique thing to see, Landry agreed, walking around its perimeter. You dont realize how big it is until its on the ground.

It makes a statement, said Jerrie Ackridge, 70, the churchs historian.

When we pass by the church my great-grandbaby says, Oh, the church is broke.

To her husband, Neil Akridge, 75, whose grandfather helped build the church, it symbolizes faith, too.

That the entire church, built of heart pine in the 1890s, didnt explode into flames is nothing short, he said, of miraculous.

It was leap day, Wednesday, Feb. 29, a quiet afternoon with no one in the church, when an electrical fire erupted.

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Church steeple on his lawn, Bayou La Batre pastor tells of fire that almost destroyed historic church