Washington lost one of its landmark downtown churches in an inferno that brought in firefighters from across the county to battle the blaze.

Fire broke out at First Christian Church on East Second Street in Washington shortly before 3 p.m. Monday. Though multiple departments quickly responded to the church to assist Washington Police and Fire Services, the fire was fully involved by the time firefighters arrived, according to officials.

“All I know is they had some type of fire start somewhere near the sanctuary, and it was an active fire when they got here,” said Lt. William Chrismon, spokesman for the Washington Police Department.

Only minutes after firefighters began battling the blaze, the call went out for all fire personnel to evacuate the building — standard procedure when a structure has become unstable and/or heavy flames are present.

Roads within a three-block area of the church were closed off to traffic and upon Washington Fire Chief Robbie Rose’s recommendation, Washington Utilities’ Third Street feeder line, which supplies some of the electricity to downtown, was shut down around 3:30 p.m. to prevent greater damage to electrical lines in the area. Seven hours later, electricity was restored to downtown homes and businesses.

“I was home but I didn’t know it was going on until I heard the alarm to evacuate the building — three long blasts on the air horn,” said Jane Olsen, a former firefighter and EMT. “I mean you train for that, but until then, I had never heard it before.”

After that, Olsen, whose East Second Street home is one block over from the church, said the scene was surreal.

“It sounds so bizarre. All you can hear is the water, the pumps on the trucks and the air pack alarms,” Olsen said at the time.

Upon request, Williamston Fire Department sent over aerial firefighting apparatus to contain the fire, while Greenville Fire Department sent over a fire truck and crew to respond to any other fire calls in the Washington area, according to Washington City Councilman, and volunteer firefighter, William Pitt.

In 1891, the First Christian Church made its home in Washington, though the current sanctuary was built in the 1920s on the second and third floor of the church, above a basement level. The educational building was later added to rear of the church in the mid-19^th century. Within the last six years, the church underwent a massive renovation, which included work to its mostly wood sanctuary.

As of 8:30 p.m. Monday night, the fire was contained, but the building continued to smoke, its roofline over the sanctuary visibly sagging; the roof over the rear building collapsed.

There is no indication as of yet as to what started the blaze.