The RCMP are investigating a suspicious fire that ravaged an Anglican Lutheran church in Carman, Manitoba.
This fire is part of a broader trend of church burnings across Canada which the Liberal government has yet to address or launch a national inquiry into.
Pembina Valley RCMP were dispatched to the Grace St. John’s Anglican Lutheran Church early Thursday morning after receiving a report of a fire.
When police arrived, crews from the Carman Fire and Emergency Medical Services were already at the church but couldn’t enter because the floor had collapsed into the basement, RCMP said in a news release Friday afternoon.
The church, built in 1965 in the town that’s located about 75 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, has a congregation of about 30 families.
Deputy Chief Joey McElroy previously told CBC news reporters that his crews battled the fire from outside the building before entering to extinguish remaining hotspots.
The fire was deemed under control at around 6 a.m. on Thursday.
McElroy said roughly 75 per cent of the building’s interior was compromised during the blaze.
Police said there was no one inside the church at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported. The fire has been deemed suspicious, and the RCMP is asking anyone with video footage from around the church between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m. on Thursday to contact the Pembina Valley detachment at 204-745-676.
In the city of Winnipeg last fall, a man lit the House of Covenant International Church aflame killing a married couple inside.
Despite these alarming numbers and human casualties, public awareness has remained low, with the Liberal government failing to communicate the severity of the crisis.
True North has previously mapped instances of violence against churches since the Kamloops residential school announcement; the map had 112 attacks against churches recorded.
This latest church fire in Carman follows the destruction of the 110-year-old Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Allégresses in Quebec City on Oct. 3, 2024.