VAN ZANDT COUNTY, Texas — A Van Zandt County church has been destroyed following an early Wednesday morning structure fire.
According to the South Van Zandt Volunteer Fire Department, the fire occurred at the Wallace United Methodist Church around 4:40 a.m.
The fire took several hours to fight. By 1 p.m., there was still smoke and hot spots from the inferno.
By the time it was finally under control, the only thing that remained was a stone pillar of the Ten Commandments that stood in front of the church.
No injuries were reported.
"You have a sense of shock and disbelief when you realize this church has been here over 100 years and now it's not here," Reverend Mark Young, said.
Officials say they don't believe the fire was related to arson. The investigation remains ongoing.
Rev. Young says the fire is another chapter in the church's long history, not the end of the it.
"You get beyond that and realize it is here because it's the people who make the church," Rev. Young said.
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