Provo Tabernacle on fire

[dahlia]

Notice the picture found in the rubble of the Provo Tabernacle. You will notice it is all burned except for the image of Christ.

Thanks for the link. I'd only seen pictures of the fire, not the aftermath. Interesting about the picture!

[rameumptom]

From what I understand, some very special Mormon works of art were on display there, including Minerva Teichert's painting of Joseph and Oliver being ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood by Peter, James and John.

YouTube and photos: The historic Mormon Provo Tabernacle in Utah reduced to rubbles

[Backroads]

Drove by it yesterday. Nearly cried.

[Wingnut]

Church Statement Regarding Ongoing Provo Tabernacle Fire Investigation - LDS Newsroom

[john doe]

SL Trib is reporting that the fire is not considered suspicious, and that a security guard disabled the alarm about an hour before the fire broke out. The alarm had gone off, and he had contacted the building coordinator, who told him that false alarms occur quite often. The guard checked the property out, found no problems, and disabled the alarm. Employees from a nearby business called the fire in later when they saw the flames and smoke. I would imagine the security guard and the coordinator feel pretty low about this.

[aw001]

Based on the witness descriptions from the night before, I would be. There was a lot of electrical equipment running and a funny smell. It seemed pretty clear that the point of origin was on the second floor...a strange place for a late night arsonist to begin his work. Plus, there were strange smells during the activities earlier in the evening.

Also, no one has even mentioned the possibility of arson at this point, other than the media. Different types of fires behave in different ways, and firefighters likely would have developed a suspicion by now. I'd actually be more surprised if it turned out to be arson.

I heard this second or third hand from somebody who worked in the tabernacle before it burned down. Apparently BYU had brought in a professional lighting contractor for the concert, because they were switching out some of the lights. This person noticed that one of the contractors was taking the old lights out of the ceiling, and sticking them up into the attic without disconnecting the power first, and then filling the holes with the new lights. He warned the guy that if somebody turned the old lights on, they would start a fire in the attic, but the guy assured him that nobody was going to turn the old lights on. So they were left connected, lying on the bare wood, or whatever insulation was in the attic.

Of course, it would be hard to find out what actually happened, but it's not hard to imagine how somebody could have turned the all the lights on (including the old ones) for the rehearsal, they smoked and smoldered in the attic and people reported strange smells, then when the rehearsal was done, they turned off all the lights they could see, leaving the ones in the attic on. The smoke triggered the previously faulty alarms, which get ignored, and a few hours later, you get a fire that mysteriously starts in the attic.

[Just_A_Guy]

Newsroom.lds.org has an exterior rendering out for the planned Provo Temple.