A fire at the old Wesleyville United Church on April 3, 2021 is believed to have been an act of arson.
Members of the Port Hope Fire and Emergency Services were dispatched to a structure fire at approximately 5:40 a.m. on Lakeshore Road approximately 10 kilometres west of the town of Port Hope.
When fire crews arrived on scene, the front door area of the former church were on fire.
Crews quickly extinguished the flames but there was significant damage to the interior of the building near the entrance.
Two investigators with the Office of the Fire Marshal along with a OPP Forensic Identification Officer spent the day examining the scene and documenting evidence. A gas can was found across the road from the church, but it’s unknown if it was part of the scene.
Tim Deschamps who lives next door with his girlfriend Brittany Henderson said he was just leaving for work and noticed the fire.
“I looked to my left to make the turn and noticed there was a bright orange on the front of the church.”
“I get out of my truck and sure enough the church is on fire.”
Deschamps said when he saw the fire the entire front door was in flames and was just starting to burn inside the front area of the church.
Firefighters were called immediately and doused the flames.
With the former church having no power, Deschamps said the fire is obviously suspicious as to origin.
Having lived beside the church for approximately six months, the couple said it’s not unusual to see people trespassing around the property on weekends.
“We had a incident last month where we had to call OPP because people were poking around the schoolhouse and the church – they’ve looked around the buildings, they’ve looked around our house.”
“As for why somebody would think it’s a smart idea to light a building on fire whether it’s abandoned or not, or in the case of this church, not in use, regardless of whether it has a religious affiliation or not is just beyond me.”
It’s not uncommon for the Friends of Wesleyville Village to have events in the church or outside. Ironically on the morning of the fire, volunteers were having a drive-by Easter egg giveaway.
Kathryn McHolm who is Chair of the Friends of Wesleyville Village said she rushed to the scene as soon as she received the call.
“It’s very frustrating because a group of volunteers having worked for so many years to restore the buildings and the church was the first building we actually restored.”
Over the years, McHolm said they’ve had a lot of vandalism.
Most of the congregation moved to Welcome and the last time the building was used as a church was 1969.
The Friends of Wesleyville Village was created in 2009 and they’ve been having fundraisers throughout the years to maintain the buildings and the church was restored in 2010.
“It’s the centre of our activities. So we have to kind of take a step back and figure out what we need to do now.”
Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Ogden said early detection of the fire and a quick response by fire crews are what helped save the church.
Anyone with information that could assist with this investigation is encouraged to contact the Northumberland OPP at 1 888-310-1122. Should you wish to remain anonymous, you may call the Peterborough/Northumberland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) where you may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,000 and not have to appear in court. You can also submit information online at www.stopcrimehere.ca.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
